j 


DUKE 

UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY 


Gift  of 


V>ioku,i,on  H.   Shelton  Smith 


NORTH  CAROLINA  DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST 


North  Carolina  Disciples 
of  Christ 


A  History  of  Their  Rise  and  Progress,  and 

of  Their  Contribution  to  Their 

General  Brotherhood 


By 
CHARLES  CROSSFIELD  WARE 


CHRISTIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION 

BEAUMONT  AND  PINE  STREETS 

ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 

1927 


Copyright,   1927, 
By  Christian  Board  of  Publication 


I 


DEDICATED 

By  the  grace  of  Him  who  "came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister" 

TO 

The  Ministry  of  the  North  Carolina  Disciples  of  Christ. 

The   Ministers  of  Yesterday — Who   Opened  the  TRAIL. 

The  Ministers  of  Today — Who  Travel  the  ROAD  in  Fellow-service. 

The  Ministers  of  Tomorrow — Who  May  Move  Swiftly  up  the 

HIGHWAY  to  the  Destination  of  All  Pilgrims  of  God — 

The  BOULEVARDS  of  The  Eternal  City. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

SUBJECT                                                                                                                                        FACING  PAGE 

Pioneers  from  North  Carolina     ____________  16 

Historic   Scenes       ________________  17 

Old  Alamance  Church  _______________  32 

Historic   Homes       ________________  33 

General  William  Clark      ______________  48 

John   Patrick   Dunn     _______________  49 

Group  I,  Pioneer  Churches     _____________  64 

Group  II,  Pioneer  Churches  _____________  65 

Thomas  Jordan  Latham     ______________  80 

Benjamin  Parrott  ________________  81 

Facsimile,  Welche's  Creek  Church  Eecord  _________  96 

Title  Page,  Carolina  Christian  Monthly     _________  97 

Alfred   Moye      _________________  112 

Winsor    Dixon    _________________  113 

John  Tomline  Walsh  _______________  128 

Moses  Tyson  Moye       _______________  129 

George  Joyner  _________________  144 

Amos  Johnston  Battle       ______________  145 

Group,  First  Officers,  N.  C.  C.  M.  S.     _     _     _     _     _     _     _     _     _     _  160 

Group,  First  Officers,  W.  M.  S.  ------------  161 

Gideon  Allen      _________________  176 

John  James  Coltrain   _______________  177 

Virgil  Angelo  Wilson  _______________  192 

Peter  Edmund  Hines  _______________  193 

Kinston  Collegiate  Institute  _____________  208 

Wilson  Collegiate  Institute     _____________  209 

Josephus   Latham    ________________  224 

John  Bunyan  Respess  _______________  225 

John  James  Harper     _______________  240 

Joshua  Lawrence  Burns    ______________  241 

Group,  Ministers  of  1898  ______________  256 

Carolina  Institute  at  Old  Ford  ____________  257 

James  Latham  Winneld    ______________  272 

Joseph  Grey  Gurganus      ______________  273 

Joseph  Henry  Foy       _______________  288 

Dennis  Wrighter  Davis     ______________  289 

Group,  Carolina  Christian  College     ___________  304 

Main  Building,   Atlantic   Christian   College     ________  305 

Henry  Cleophas  Bowen     ______________  320 

Harvey  Swain  Davenport       _____________  321 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Bibliography       _________________  9 

Foreword      __________________  13 

Introduction,  S.  Lee  Sadler  _____________  15 

The  Disciples,  Joseph  H.  Foy     ____________  21 

Part  I.    North  Carolina,  Mother  of  Pioneers 

Chapter     1.     Barton   Warren   Stone      __________  25 

Chapter     2.     David  Purviance    ____________  33 

Chapter     3.     The   Creaths      _____________  39 

Chapter     4.     Joseph  Thomas,  the  "White  Pilgrim"     _____  46 

Part  II.     Themes  op  General  History 

Chapter     5.     Visits  of  the  Campbells  __________  57 

Chapter     6.     The  Campbell-Meredith  Controversy      ______  69 

Chapter     7.     The  Baptist  Background  __________  77 

Chapter     8.     Rise  of  Disciples  Among  Regular  Baptists     _     _     _     _  86 

Chapter     9.     Rise  of  Disciples  Among  Free  Will  Baptists         _     _  91 

Chapter  10.     Union  Movement  of  Disciples    ________  98 

Chapter  11.     Early   Evangelization        __________  109 

Chapter  12.     Rise  of  Disciples  in  the  Western  Counties     _  117 

Chapter  13.     The  Primary  State  Organization      _______  124 

Chapter  14.     Rise  of  the  State  Missionary  Convention  _____  133 

Chapter  15.     Conventions  in  the  Seventies       ________  142 

Chapter  16.     Woman 's  Missionary  Service       ________  150 

Chapter  17.     Early  Education  Among  Disciples  _______  157 

Chapter  18.     Founding  of  Atlantic  Christian  College     _____  170 

Chapter  19.     The  Ministry— Its  Order  __________  176 

Chapter  20.     The  Ministry — Its   Support  _________  185 

Chapter  21.     Phases  of  Stewardship     __________  194 

Chapter  22.     The    Press    ______________  203 

Chapter  23.     Religious   Education    ___________  215 

Chapter  24.     Colored   Disciples   ____________  223 

Chapter  25.     Ideals  and  Outlook     ___________  230 

Part  III.     Early  Times  in  Early  Churches 

I  Chapter  26.  Hookerton,  and  Concord   (Beaufort)      ______  239 

Chapter  27.     Oak  Grove   (Pitt),  Welche 's  Creek,  and  Pleasant  Hill  250 

Chapter  28.     Kinston,  Broad  Creek,  and  Concord  (Pamlico)      _     _     _  259 

Chapter  29.     Other  Pioneer  Churches  __________  269 

7 


8  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Part  IV.     Memoirs  of  Past  Leaders 
Chapter  30.     Allen,    Ayers,    Battle,    Bond,    H.    C.    Bowen,    Thos.    H. 

Bowen,  Burns,  Cason,  Mrs.  Clark  ______     281 

Chapter  31.     Clark,  Coltrain,  Chestnutt,  Davenport,  D.   W.   Davis,   S. 

L.  Davis,  Dillahunt  __________     291 

Chapter  32.     J.  H.  Dixon,  Mrs.   P.  L.  Dixon,  Mrs.   S.  R.  Dixon,  W. 

Dixon,    Mrs.    Draughan,    Dunn,    Mrs.    Dunn,    Foy, 

Fulcher,  Gaylord,  Green,  Grubbs  ______     299 

Chapter  33.     H.  S.  Gurganus,  J.  M.  Gurganus,  J.  G.  Gurganus,  Hardi- 

son,   J.   J.   Harper,  H.   D.   Harper,  Hart,   Hines     _     309 
Chapter  34.     Heath,  I.  F.  Holton,  J.  W.  Holton,  Jarman,  I.  Jones,  J. 

Benjamin  Jones,  Jarvis,  Joyner,  A.  Latham,  Jr.     _     317 
Chapter  35.     J.   Latham,    T.    J.   Latham,   Leggett,   Leighton,   Lewis, 

Manning,  Miller,  A.  Moye,  E.  A.  Moye  _     _     _     _     325 
Chapter  36.     M.  T.  Moye,  Parrott,  Powell,  Respess,  Smith,  Staneill, 

Statzer,  Summerlin  __________     333 

Chapter  37.     Swain,  Sumrell,  Trotman,  Walsh,  Williams,  Wilson,  H. 

Winfield,  J.  L.  Winfield,  J.  R.  Winfield,  Whitley     _     344 
Appendix  A       _________________     357 

Appendix  B       _________----____     360 

Appendix   C        _________________     363 

Index       _     _     _     _  _______     365 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST. 

Archives,  North  Carolina  Disciples  of  Christ,  comprising  official  min- 
utes of  their  State  Conventions,  1841-1927  (complete  file);  Minutes  of 
the  Union  Convention,  1867;  files  of  the  various  North  Carolina  Disciple 
periodicals,  1854-1927,  that  of  the  Watch  Tower,  in  pamphlet  form  edited 
by  Dr.  Walsh,  being  complete;  bound  series  and  files  of  Disciple  period- 
icals edited  without  the  State,  such  as  Christian  Baptist  (1823-1S30), 
Millennial  Harbinger  (1830-1S70),  Christian  Union  and  Religious  Review 
(1851-185G),  and  Missionary  Weekly  (1888-1891);  files  of  Catalogues: 
Pleasant  Hill  Academy,  Kinsey  School,  Carolina  Christian  College,  and 
Atlantic  Christian  College  (incomplete)  ;  manuscript  letters  of  early  Dis- 
ciple leaders ;  old  Clerk 's  records  of  eight  of  the  earliest  Churches  of 
Christ  in  North   Carolina,   and  other   "original   source"   material. 

A  Comprehensive  History  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  by  W.  T.  Moore. 

Biography  of  B.  W.  Stone,  by  John  Eogers. 

Caskey's  Book,  by  Chaplain  G.  G.  Mullins. 

Christian  Missions  and  Historical  Sketches,  by  F.  M.  Green. 

Churches  of  Christ,  by  John  T.  Brown. 

Debates  That  Made  History,  by  J.  J.  Haley. 

Life  of  Elder  Benjamin  Franklin,  by  Joseph  Franklin  and  J.  A.  Head- 
ington. 

Life  of  David  Purviance,  by  Levi  Purviance. 

Memoirs  of  Alexander  Campbell,  by  Eobert  Richardson. 

Memoirs  of  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  and  Biography  of  Elder  Jacob  Creath, 
Sr.,  by  P.  Donan,  in  one  volume. 

Memoirs  of  Thomas  Campbell,  by  Alexander  Campbell. 

Memoirs  of  Dr.  Winthrop  Hartly  Hopson,  by  Ella  Lord  Hopson. 

Otey-Briney  Debate,  between  W.  W.  Otey  and  J.  B.  Briney,  1908. 

Reminiscences  and  Sermons,  by  W.  D.  Frazee. 

Sketches  of  Pitt  County,  by  Henry  T.  King. 

The  Cane  Ridge  Meeting  House,  by  James  E.  Eogers. 

The  Christian  Worker,  by  Jos.  H.  Foy. 

The  Dawn  of  the  Reformation,  by  T.  P.  Haley. 

The  Life  and  Times  of  John  Tomline  Walsh,  M.D.,  by  the  Walsh 
Family. 

The  Pioneer  Preacher,  by  Nathan  J.  Mitchell. 

The  Plea  and  the  Pioneers  in  Virginia,  by  F.  A.  Hodge. 

Tributes  to  My  Father  and  Mother,  and  Some  Stories  of  My  Life,  by 
Jesse  Mercer  Battle. 


10  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

II.  FREE  WILL  BAPTISTS. 

Confession  of  Faith  and  Code  of  Discipline,  Revised,  1836,  edition, 
New  Bern,  North  Carolina,  18S0. 

History  of  the  Free  Will  Baptists  of  North  Carolina,  by  T.  F.  Harri- 
son and  J.  M.  Barfield. 

III.  PRIMITIVE  BAPTISTS. 

Church  History,  by  C.  B.  and  S.  Hassell. 

A  Concise  History  of  the  Kehukee  Baptist  Association,  by  Burkitt. 
and  Read. 

A  Concise  History  of  the  Kehukee  Baptist  Association,  by  Joseph 
Biggs. 

A  Confession  of  Faith,  adopted  by  the  Baptist  Association  of  Phila- 
delphia, Sept.  25,  1742,  and  by  that  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  1767. 

rV.  MISSIONARY  BAPTISTS. 

Annual  Register  of  the  Baptist  Denomination,  1791,  by  John  Asplund. 

A  General  History  of  the  Baptist  Denomination,  by  David  Benedict, 
two  volumes. 

A  History  of  the  Baptists  in  North  Carolina,  by  Chas.  B.  Williams. 

A  History  of  the  Grassy  Creek  Baptist  Church,  by  Robert  I.  Devin. 

A  History  of  Kentucky  Baptists,  by  J.  H.  Spencer,  two  volumes. 

A  History  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  Baptists  in  Virginia,  by  Beale- 
Semple. 

A  History  of  the  Sandy  Creek  Baptist  Association,  by  George  W. 
Purefoy. 

A  Short  History  of  the  Baptists,  by  Henry  C.  Vedder. 

Baptist  Historical  Papers,  by  Baptist  Historical  Association,  Hender- 
son,  North   Carolina,   three   volumes. 

History  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  the  United  States,  by  A.  H.  Newman. 

History  of  the  North  Carolina  Chowan  Baptist  Association,  by  James 
A.  Delke. 

Memoir  of  Ahner  W.  Clopton,  by  J.  B.  Jeter. 

The  Genesis  of  American  Anti-Missionism,  by  B.  H.  Carroll,  Jr. 

Triennial  Register  of  the  Baptists,  1832  and  1836,  by  I.  M.  Allen. 

V.  UNION  BAPTISTS. 

Life  and  Travels  of  Peter  Howell,  autobiography. 

VI.  CHRISTIAN  CONNECTION. 

Life  of  Joseph  Thomas,  the  White  Pilgrim,  autobiography. 
Lives  of  Christian  Ministers,  by  P.  J.  Kernodle. 
The  Centennial  of  Religious  Journalism,  by  J.  Pressley  Barrett. 
The  Life  of  Rev.  James  O 'Kelly,  by  W.  E.  MacClenny. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  11 

VII.  PRESBYTERIAN. 

Life  of  David  Caldwell,  by  E.  W.  Caruthers. 
Memorials  of  the  Waddel  Family,  by  John  N.  Waddel. 
Sketches  of  North  Carolina,  by  William  Henry  Foote. 
Sermons  of  Henry  Pattillo. 

VIII.  CUMBERLAND  PRESBYTERIAN. 

History  of  the  Christian  Church,  Including  a  History  of  the  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian  Church,  by  James  Smith. 

IX.  SHAKERS. 

The  Kentucky  Revival,  by  Eichard  McNemar. 

X.  INTERDENOMINATIONAL. 

Year  Book  of  the  Churches,  by  the  Federal  Council,  Churches  of  Christ 
in  America. 


FOREWORD 

The  Disciples  of  Christ  in  North  Carolina  held  their  Eightieth 
Annual  Convention  at  Dunn,  North  Carolina,  November  10-12, 
1924.  The  President,  W.  C.  Manning,  was  authorized  by  that 
Convention  to  appoint  an  Historical  Commission.  The  duty  of 
the  Commission  was  to  effect  the  writing  and  publication  of  a 
"History  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  in  North  Carolina."  It  was 
understood  that  the  "History"  was  to  come  from  the  press  "by 
or  before,"  November,  1927,  at  which  time  there  was  to  be  ob- 
served the  Golden  Jubilee  of  the  State  Missionary  service  of 
Disciples  of  Christ  in  North  Carolina.  Accordingly  this  Com- 
mission was  appointed.  It  was  composed  as  follows :  C.  C. 
Ware,  Chairman,  C.  W.  Howard,  J.  E.  Tingle,  Asa  J.  Manning, 
"W.  T.  Mattox,  Mrs.  C.  A.  D.  Grainger,  and  Mrs.  McD.  Holliday. 
This  Commission  met  in  Greenville,  North  Carolina,  February 
23,  1926,  and  requested  the  undersigned  to  write  and  publish 
the  History. 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  remembrance  that  some  twenty-five 
years  ago,  J.  J.  Harper  planned  to  write  such  a  "History."  He 
was  prevented  from  doing  so  by  the  exacting  service  in  the 
Presidency  of  Atlantic  Christian  College,  to  which  responsible 
position  he  had  been  called  in  1904.  In  view  of  his  life 's  service 
(1841-1908),  in  the  making  of  the  Disciples  in  North  Carolina, 
and  of  his  vital  contacts  with  a  large  proportion  of  the  Disciple 
leaders  in  North  Carolina,  it  is  regrettable  that  he  could  not 
write  his  History.  The  materials  which  he  gathered  and  pre- 
served were  available  to  us.  We  wish  first  to  acknowledge  the 
help  we  have  received  from  that  source. 

We  have  received  many  helps  in  the  assembling  of  material 
for  this  book,  especially  in  the  items  comprised  in  the  "Archives 
of  Disciples  of  Christ,  in  North  Carolina."  Obviously,  we  have 
not  the  space  to  recognize  all  of  these  helps  specifically.  We  are 
grateful  to  all  of  these  friends  for  the  essential  assistance  they 
have  so  graciously  given.  We  are  constrained  to  mention  the 
special  favors  of  B.  A.  Abbott  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  W.  G. 
Johnston  of  Benton,  Illinois,  Bruce  Cotten  of  Baltimore,  Mary- 


14  FOREWORD 

land,  and  Judge  Thomas  M.  Pittman,  of  Henderson,  North 
Carolina,  each  of  whom  enlarged  our  bibliography  by  giving  us 
access  to  rare  books  and  bound  periodicals.  We  acknowledge 
the  help  received  from  the  libraries  of  educational  institutions. 
We  are  constrained  to  mention  the  Carolina  Collections  in  the 
Library  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  since  we  had  such 
extensive  aid  from  that  source.  We  are  indebted  to  Dr.  Paul 
N.  Garber  of  Duke  University,  Durham,  North  Carolina,  and 
to  Mrs.  W.  T.  Mattox  of  Wilson,  North  Carolina,  for  suggestions 
in  revision  of  the  text. 

Our  research  has  not  ended.  Indeed  to  us  there  seems  to  be 
no  conceivable  end  to  research  in  this  field.  We  imagine  that 
if  we  should  devote  to  such  research  the  remainder  of  our  life, 
however  long  that  remainder  might  be,  there  should  yet  confront 
us  a  vast  unfinished  task.  Time  is  fleeting  and  each  may  serve 
only  by  the  light  which  is  given.  We  release  this  story,  there- 
fore, with  the  cherished  hope  that  it  may  inspire  the  reader,  as 
it  has  served  the  author,  with  an  enlarged  vision  of  the  mission, 
the  accomplishments,  the  personnel,  and  the  potentialities  of 
the  Disciples  of  Christ  in  North  Carolina. 

Charles  Crossfield  Ware. 

Wilson,  North  Carolina,  June  15,  1927. 


INTRODUCTION 

This  book  is  dependable.  That  is  what  the  reader  deserves 
to  know  first.  The  data  on  which  it  is  based  has  been  most 
painstakingly  gathered.  For  five  years  Mr.  Ware  has  worked 
without  ceasing  in  the  collection  of  the  material  of  this  book. 
He  has  gone  in  and  out  among  the  people  of  his  state  constantly 
searching  for  lost  or  forgotten  material  on  which  to  base  this 
narrative.  His  success  in  finding  old  manuscripts,  copies  of  old 
papers,  books,  photographs,  articles,  memoirs  and  the  like  has  at 
times  seemed  almost  uncanny.  But  out  of  it  all  his  untiring 
energy  has  produced  a  work  that  is  thoroughly  dependable.  No 
one  need  fear  to  use  the  facts  set  forth  in  this  volume.  The 
care  with  which  they  have  been  gathered,  and  the  moral  integ- 
rity and  historical  insight  possessed  by  the  author  guarantee 
their  validity.  This  is  of  first  importance  in  any  work  of  this 
nature.  The  use  of  statistics  is  a  very  precise  science.  When 
facts,  upon  which  issues  depend,  are  quoted  or  stated,  it  is  mor- 
ally obligatory  upon  the  author  to  know  beyond  question  the 
truth  of  his  statements.  If  it  is  impossible  thoroughly  to  possess 
this  knowledge,  then  the  author  must,  if  he  be  morally  com- 
punctious, confess  his  uncertainty.  This  is  the  method  pursued 
by  the  author  of  this  book.  Therefore  we  repeat  our  first  state- 
ment.    The  work  is  thoroughly  dependable. 

It  has  been  the  privilege  of  the  writer  to  know  intimately  the 
work  of  Mr.  Ware  for  the  past  five  years  in  the  gathering  of 
this  material.  And  concerning  the  work  and  the  use  made  of 
the  material  it  should  be  further  stated  that  the  facts  and  fig- 
ures are  not  only  accurately  drawn  but  also  the  most  impartial 
and  uncolored  use  has  been  made  of  them.  The  author  did  not 
set  out  to  prove  a  case  but  to  find  the  facts  and  draw  accurate 
conclusions  from  them.  This  he  has  done  with  complete  effi- 
ciency. 

The  assembling  of  the  material  here  presented  is  a  distinct 
contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  Disciples.  For,  while  the 
book  deals  primarily  with  the  origin  and  development  of  the 

15 


16  INTRODUCTION 

Disciples  in  North  Carolina,  it  nevertheless  has  a  much  wider 
interest  common  to  the  entire  Brotherhood. 

If  the  other  states  which  have  a  valuable  historic  past  would 
appoint  a  commission  similar  to  that  of  the  North  Carolina 
brethren  and  gather  all  available  material  as  accurately  and  as 
carefully  as  this  has  been  done,  it  would  then  be  possible  to 
assemble  in  a  two  or  three  volume  set  a  thoroughly  dependable 
history  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ.  This  would  be  a  colossal 
undertaking,  but  one  entirely  possible  of  achievement.  Thus 
there  would  be  preserved  for  the  centuries  to  come  an  accurate 
history  of  this  great  Church  which  in  a  few  more  years  it  will 
be  impossible  ever  to  compile  without  a  joint  effort  such  as  this. 

The  author  of  this  volume  has  done  his  work  all  the  while 
with  the  knowledge  that  the  work  would  never  have  a  wide 
popular  appeal.  And  yet,  the  Disciples  are  not  entirely  lacking 
in  a  sense  of  history.  Because  of  this  it  will  be  increasingly  true 
as  we  get  further  and  further  away  from  the  sources  of  our 
beginnings,  that  there  will  be  many  who  will  turn  with  grati- 
tude to  this  most  unselfish  contribution  in  the  preservation  of 
our  historical  heritage. 

The  labor  which  this  book  represents  is  purely  a  labor  of  love. 
It  is  in  no  sense  a  part  of  the  author's  work  as  Secretary  to  the 
North  Carolina  Missionary  Society,  nor  has  it  been  presented 
with  any  hope  of  material  gain.  I  have  never  seen  a  more  per- 
fect example  of  Christian  labor  for  pure  love  of  the  work. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  the  general  reader  to  know  that  Mr. 
Ware  is  himself  a  product  of  the  finest  Disciple  background. 
Born  at  Eowland,  Kentucky,  of  Disciple  parentage,  educated  at 
the  College  of  the  Bible,  Lexington,  Kentucky,  Charles  Cross- 
field  Ware  went  out  into  the  active  work  of  the  ministry  in 
1907.  During  the  intervening  years  there  has  not  been  an  idle 
moment.  From  1907  to  1915  he  was  engaged  in  pastoral  work 
in  Mississippi,  Texas,  Louisiana  and  the  Carolinas.  In  his  four 
years'  pastorate  in  South  Carolina  he  also  acted  two  years  as 
State  Secretary  for  that  state.  The  past  twelve  years  have  been 
given  to  the  work  of  the  Disciples  in  North  Carolina.  His  work 
as  State  Secretary  in  this  state  is  so  well  known  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  entire  church  program  under  his  leadership  has 
been  so  conspicuous  as  to  bring  it  to  the  attention  of  the  entire 


Pioneers  From  North  Carolina 

1.      Barton    Warren    Stone.      2.    David    Purviance.      3.   Jacob    Creath,    Sr. 
4.   Jacob  Creath,   Jr.     5.   Joseph   Thomas,   the   "White   Pilgrim." 


Historic   Scenes 

First  Column,  from  the  top  downward:  Site  of  Dr.  David  Caldwell's 
School,  three  miles  northwest  of  Court  House,  Greensboro,  which  Barton  W. 
Stone  attended,  1790-1793 ;  Site  of  Old  Fort  Barnwell  Chapel,  where  the 
Neuse  Association  met  October  19-21,  1833,  and  which  excluded  from  their 
fellowship,  William  Clark,  John  P.  Dunn,  and  Abraham  Congleton  ;  Monu- 
ment marking  site  of  the  first  Alamance  Church  where  Barton  W.  Stone  was 
converted ;    Typical   old    pulpit   in    the    Corinth   Church,    near   Farmville. 

Second  Column,  from  the  top  downward:  Site  of  the  union  Meeting- 
House  on  the  Public  Square,  of  Hookerton  where  the  merger,  was  effected 
with  the  Free  Will  Baptists,  May  2,  1845  ;  Grove  in  the  yard  of (VVhj^tjS\vami>. 
fchurch  where  the  Woman*sMijsh3Aary  Service  was  organized-  into'  a  Estate 
gToup— October  5,  1 8 7 6T^TTte~and  part  of  the  old  building-  of  Little  Sister 
Church  where  was  held  the  first  group  meeting-  of  North  Carolina  Disciples, 
Feb.  2,  3,  1831  ;  Old  home  of  Dr.  James  Hall,  teacher  of  David  Purviance,  and 
site    of    school    which    Purviance    attended. 


INTRODUCTION  17 

Brotherhood  and  to  make  any  detailed  mention  of  it  here  un- 
necessary. 

In  his  own  words  the  purpose  of  this  book  is:  "To  tell  the 
story  of  the  Disciples  in  North  Carolina;  to  make  clear  what- 
ever challenge  there  may  be  in  that  story  for  their  future  growth 
and  mission  as  a  brotherhood." 

The  history  of  the  Disciples,  not  only  in  North  Carolina,  but 
in  the  world  is  a  very  revealing  study.  In  this  history  are  to  be 
found  both  the  reasons  for  our  relative  failures  and  the  reasons 
for  our  partial  successes.  There  is  no  need  to  set  forth  here 
these  historic  sources  of  failures.  We  are  rather  interested  in 
the  discovery  of  the  dynamics  of  the  past. 

One  lesson  that  is  clearly  drawn  from  our  past  is  that  loyalty 
to  our  slogan,  "Back  to  Christ,"  does  in  no  sense  conflict  with 
the  most  forward  looking  program  of  work.  The  moulders  of 
thought  among  the  Disciples  have  been  forward  looking  men, 
men  who  have  had  their  faces  toward  the  morning,  men  who 
have  been  constantly  looking  for  the  dawn  of  a  better  day. 

So  long  as  a  church  moves  outward  and  upward  it  marches 
with  all  the  forward  looking  of  the  earth.  When  the  step  be- 
comes hesitant,  pauses,  turns  back,  the  companions  of  the  way 
become  the  outgrown,  the  inefficient,  the  disgruntled,  and  the 
short-sighted.  When  you  turn  your  face  to  the  rear  and  start 
backward  to  some  Golden  Age  you  meet  every  forward  looking 
man  of  the  centuries  coming  this  way.  The  progress  the  Dis- 
ciples have  made  has  been  due  to  the  fact  that  their  men  of  God 
have  had  confidence  in  the  leadership  of  the  Spirit  when  they 
were  brought  to  the  necessity  of  using  new  and  untried  ways. 

It  is  by  such  studies  as  these  that  we  have  revealed  to  us  the 
roads  along  which  we  must  travel  toward  the  apprehension  of 
our  Lord. 

First  among  these  is  Christian  Education.  So  far  as  I  know 
Christianity  is  the  only  religion  that  makes  a  direct  appeal  to 
intelligence.  "I  am  the  Light  of  the  World. "  " They  know  not 
what  they  do."  It  is  more  than  chance  that  these  two  great 
statements  come  so  close  together  in  point  of  time  of  their 
utterance. 

The  "Restoration  Movement"  was  born  out  of  consecrated 
intelligence  and  in  a  peculiar  way  made  its  appeal  to  consistent 
thinking.     The  mystical  elements  of  the  faith  were  not  over- 


18  INTRODUCTION 

looked.  But  our  fathers  in  the  faith  insisted  upon  worshiping 
God  with  the  head  as  well  as  the  heart.  The  Disciples  were 
pioneers  in  religious  education. 

Whenever  the  church  has  followed  this  norm,  it  has  prospered. 
Our  Christian  colleges  have  been  the  foci  of  our  expansion.  The 
need  grows  keener  with  every  passing  year  for  Schools  of  Reli- 
gion that  will  adequately  interpret  the  spirit  and  ideals  of  this 
great  church,  challenge  the  mind  and  heart  with  the  unrealized 
idealism  of  the  Christ,  and  so  exalt  the  ministry  as  to  make  it 
the  most  winsome  field  of  endeavor  for  all  those  who  enter  the 
college  halls. 

But  of  equal  or  even  greater  importance  than  the  colleges  and 
universities  is  the  need  for  Christian  Education  in  the  kinder- 
garten, grammar  and  high  school  grades.  One  may  not  like  the 
parochial  school  idea,  but  this  much  must  be  said  for  it ;  it  takes 
youth  at  its  most  plastic  period  and  moulds  it  into  whatever  the 
church  desires. 

Somehow,  the  Protestant  church  must  make  its  message  as 
real  to  the  lives  of  its  children  and  adolescents  as  the  Catholics 
do.  It  is  not  enough  to  have  Christian  colleges  for  those  who 
have  grown  to  young  manhood  and  womanhood  without  the  nur- 
turing influence  of  our  faith.  There  must  be,  for  the  sake  of 
perpetuity,  some  extension  of  our  religion  into  the  life  and 
thought  of  the  children.  This  may  be  done  in  part  by  scien- 
tifically administered  religious  instruction  in  the  church.  It 
will  not  be  adequately  done  until  there  is  some  extension  into  the 
week-day  instruction  in  the  schools. 

Second  among  these  factors  of  progress  is  Christian  Journal- 
ism. One  has  but  to  read  such  works  as  Garrison 's  Reformation 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century  to  see  the  dynamic  influence  of  the 
Religious  Press.  If  we  had  our  American  Christian  Review,  we 
also  had  our  Christian  Standard  with  Editor  Isaac  Errett  plead- 
ing constantly  for  unity,  and  co-operation,  and  Christian 
progress.  It  is  significant  that  every  forward  move  in  North 
Carolina  has  been  contemporaneous  with  a  healthy  Christian 
Journalism.  To  a  greater  degree  than  we  realize  at  present  there 
must  be  a  united  support  of  the  Religious  Press.  Papers  like 
The  North  Carolina  Christian  are  without  exception  wholly 
creative. 


INTRODUCTION  19 

Again,  if  we  go  forward,  it  will  be  along  the  line  of  Christian 
Stewardship.  Churches  that  have  had  a  ministry  with  a  con- 
science concerning  this  great  Christian  doctrine,  today  have  an 
interesting,  helpful,  co-operative  program.  One  reads  with  great 
regret  the  story  of  the  miserliness  of  our  people  in  the  years 
that  are  gone.  How  our  great  leaders  begged  for  money  to 
plant  new  churches  and  evangelize  the  whole  state !  How  their 
hearts  were  made  heavy  by  the  apparent  inability  of  the  church 
to  grasp  this  doctrine  of  Stewardship !  We  have  been  wonder- 
fully "sound"  in  the  faith  for  an  hundred  years.  But  the  rea- 
son we  rank  as  we  do  in  North  Carolina  and  elsewhere  today  is 
that  we  have  not  had  a  conscience  on  giving.  "When  the  Dis- 
ciples learn  how  to  give  and  co-operate,  they  will  take  the  field 
before  them.  The  gains  we  have  made  have  come  chiefly  through 
such  men  as  C.  C  "Ware  who  have  been  brave  and  persistent 
in  the  proclamation  of  this  doctrine  of  Christian  Stewardship. 

Finally,  if  we  go  forward,  it  will  be  along  the  line  of  missions 
and  benevolences. 

State  missions  ?  Yes.  The  most  imperative  task  and  the  most 
fruitful  ministry  for  the  Disciples  today  is  to  be  found  in  inten- 
sive state  evangelism.  Money  spent  in  evangelizing  and  build- 
ing churches,  especially  in  the  rapidly  developing  centers  of 
population  of  the  state,  will  pay  quicker  and  larger  dividends 
than  anywhere  else  in  the  Kingdom.  State  missions  is  the  over- 
shadowing need,  the  most  potential  investment  for  this  genera- 
tion. 

There  must  be  no  diminishing  of  national  and  international 
missions  and  benevolences.  The  history  of  the  church  teaches 
quite  clearly  that  we  have  had  money  for  colleges  and  state 
boards  of  missions  only  in  proportion  to  the  wider  outlook  and 
broader  sympathy  manifested  in  participation  in  Brotherhood 
enterprises.  Let  no  one  hope  to  build  a  strong  local  program 
by  cutting  down  on  the  budget  for  others. 

This  brings  us  to  our  last  word.  All  this  will  become  a  reality 
when  this  church  which  has  been  so  formally  correct  shall  be- 
come equally  as  Spiritually  efficient.  Not  one  jot  or  tittle  would 
be  removed  from  that  credo  of  the  fathers.  But  we  of  today 
have  the  colossal  task  of  recapturing  the  Spiritual  Dynamic  of 
Thomas  Campbell  and  Walter  Scott  and  Isaac  Errett,  and  others 
of  the  pioneers. 


20  INTRODUCTION 

To  do  this,  we  need  just  such  works  as  this  volume,  from 
which  we  may  become  acquainted  with  the  towering  intellects, 
the  co-operative  attitudes  and  the  Spiritual  Powers  of  those  who 
gave  themselves  to  this  Reformation.  We  are  the  offspring  of 
great  sires.  We  have  an  heritage  beyond  compare.  Be  ours  the 
task  to  move  forward  to  the  realization  of  the  Kingdom  for 
which  they  dreamed  and  in  the  furtherance  of  which  they  gave 
their  lives ! 

S.  Lee  Sadler. 

Richmond,  Virginia. 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST 
By  Joseph  Henry  Foy 

1.  They  aim  to  restore  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Church. 

2.  They  repudiate  altogether  every  form  of  creed,  ecclesias- 
tical order  or  name  apart  from  the  New  Testament. 

3.  They  are  striving  to  bring  about  and  maintain  a  union  of 
believers,  and  to  develop  the  Church  of  God  in  its  life,  its  power 
and  work  on  the  earth,  as  designed  by  G-od,  without  human  or 
extra-scriptural  devices. 

4.  They  do  not  object  to  statements  of  belief,  but  do  not  con- 
cede to  these  any  authority  over  the  conscience,  or  any  right  to 
prescribe  terms  of  fellowship.  They  acknowledge  no  spiritual 
Lord  but  Christ,  and  no  unalterable  standard  but  his  Word. 
Among  the  best  and  most  widely  circulated  of  these  statements 
are  Our  Position,  by  the  late  Isaac  Errett,  and  What  is  the 
Christian  Church  f  by  J.  S.  Lamar. 

The  following  is  a  brief  attempt  at  a  statement  of  the  faith 
of  the  Disciples  of  Christ: 

1.  They  believe  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  divinely  in- 
spired, and  are  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 

2.  They  believe  that  Jesus  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh ;  that 
he  died  for  our  sins,  according  to  the  Scriptures;  that  he  rose 
from  the  dead ;  that  he  ascended  on  high,  where  he  ever  lives  to 
make  intercession  for  his  people. 

3.  They  believe  that  it  is  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
convict  the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  judgment,  and  to 
dwell  in  the  hearts  of  believers,  as  their  Comforter. 

4.  They  believe  that  the  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  every  one  that  belie veth. 

5.  They  believe  that  through  faith,  repentance  and  baptism 
men  appropriate  to  themselves  the  salvation  wrought  out  by 
Christ.  These  constitute  the  human  side  of  the  "redemptive 
scheme,"  and  mark  the  sinner's  acceptance  of  the  "finished 
work"  of  Christ. 

21 


22  DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

6.  They  believe  that  it  is  their  privilege  and  duty  to  observe 
the  Lord's  Supper  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  thus  show 
the  Lord's  death  till  he  come. 

7.  They  believe  that  the  ungodly  will  be  banished  forever 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  but  that  the  righteous  will  enjoy 
glory,  honor  and  immortal  life. 

The  Practice  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ 

1.  In  admitting  believing  and  penitent  persons  to  baptism 
and  church  membership,  the  only  article  of  faith  presented  for 
their  public  confession  and  acceptance  is  this:  "That  Jesus  is 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God."  This  is  thoroughly  understood 
among  the  Disciples  to  include  not  only  a  renunciation  of  what- 
ever is  wrong  in  the  past  life  of  the  confessor,  but  also  an  unre- 
served commitment  of  the  confessor  into  the  hands  of  God  to  be 
built  up  anew  after  the  glorious  model  left  us  in  the  character 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  In  harmony  with  the  custom  of  the  Primitive  Church,  they 
uniformly  practice  immersion  as  the  only  scriptural  action  of 
baptism. 

3.  They  observe  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  connection  with  other 
acts  of  worship,  on  every  first  day  of  the  week,  and  regard  this 
solemn  feast  as  open  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  believers  in  Christ. 

4.  Respecting  church  government,  they  conform  to  the  Con- 
gregational polity,  and  the  "ministry"  is  composed  of  bishops 
(or  elders),  deacons  and  evangelists. 

5.  Their  conventions,  assemblies,  State  meetings,  etc.,  are  not 
legislative  but  deliberative  bodies,  and  are  held  solely  for  co- 
operative work. 

6.  The  Disciples  began  their  movement  with  an  earnest  plea 
for  Christian  union,  and  they  have  continued  to  urge  that  plea 
to  the  present  time.  They  continue,  therefore,  to  cordially  in- 
vite all  Christians  to  unite  with  them  on  the  pure  word  of  God. 


PART  I 
NORTH  CAROLINA.  MOTHER  OF  PIONEERS 


PAET  I— NORTH  CAROLINA,  MOTHER  OF 
PIONEERS 

Chapter  I 
BARTON  WARREN  STONE 

North  Carolina  began  as  an  Anglo-Saxon  province.  Her  blood 
from  that  of  Virginia  Dare,  first  child  of  English  parents  born  on 
the  American  continent,  to  that  of  her  two  millions  of  white 
people  of  today,  has  been  consistently  almost  wholly  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  Protestant.  She  is  "the  most  American  of  the  Sis- 
terhood of  States."  The  English  have  been  a  great  colonizing 
people  for  over  three  centuries.  This  colonizing  of  England  in 
America  was  more  successful  than  that  of  the  Continental  na- 
tions. It  is  true  the  madness  of  a  British  King  brought  on  the 
debacle  of  American  revolution.  Even  so,  England's  work  at 
planting  a  new  nation  had  been  well  done  in  the  flowing  of 
much  of  her  best  blood,  and  highest  ideals  in  religion,  govern- 
ment, and  social  order,  across  the  three  thousand  miles  of  ocean. 

Carolina  offered  her  lure  of  fertile  soil,  agreeable  climate,  and 
tranquil  life.  Therefore  it  was  soon  possessed  by  settlers  from 
their  first  permanent  establishments  on  the  James  and  by  the 
English  direct  from  the  mother  country.  It  is  but  natural  that 
the  same  migratory  desire  which  brought  these  home-seekers  to 
the  South  should  possess  their  vigorous  posterity  when  like  op- 
portunities loomed  to  the  west  beyond  the  Alleghanies  something 
more  than  a  century  later.  We  see  this  spirit  personified  in 
Colonel  Daniel  Boone,  world-famed  scout  of  the  Yadkin  Valley. 
and  his  admirer,  Judge  Richard  Henderson  of  Granville  County. 
They  dreamed  of  a  Transylvania  dominion  at  the  end  of  the 
Wilderness  Road.  Thus  the  inscription  of  the  marker  beside  the 
highway  between  Richmond  and  Winchester,  at  the  southern 
bank  of  the  Kentucky  River  gives  a  clear  index  in  its  statement : 
"End  of  Boone  Trail  from  North  Carolina  to  Kentucky,  1775." 

Kentucky  is  the  first  Trans-Alleghany  area  of  Anglo-Saxon 
conquest  of  the  aboriginal  American,  and  his  primeval  estate. 
Throughout  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  first  quar- 

25 


26  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

ter  of  the  nineteenth  centuries,  the  whites  were  pouring  into  the 
Central  Mississippi  Valley.  These,  of  course,  came  mainly  from 
seaboard  states  to  the  East.  The  adventurous  home-builders 
from  North  Carolina,  by  this  time  a  populous  mother  state, 
played  a  leading  part. 

Today  that  communion  known  as  Disciples  of  Christ,  in  five 
States  of  the  Central  Mississippi  Valley  numbers  three-quarters 
of  a  million.  This  is  about  half  their  total  membership  in  Amer- 
ica. We  have  seen  that  a  significant  cross  section  of  the  ancestry 
of  the  people  of  this  region  is  to  be  traced  to  North  Carolina  in 
nativity  and  culture.  In  truth  the  "Old  North  State"  made  a 
distinct  contribution  potentially  in  giving  to  the  West  five  out- 
standing pioneers  of  the  "Kestoration  Movement."  These  were 
Barton  Warren  Stone,  David  Purviance,  Jacob  Creath,  Sr., 
Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  and  Joseph  Thomas,  the  " White  Pilgrim." 

Barton  Warren  Stone  was  a  product  of  North  Carolina  in  the 
sense  that  it  was  here  that  he  received  all  of  his  higher  academic 
training ;  here  he  was  converted  to  Christ ;  and  here  he  was 
inspired,  trained,  and  ordained  for  the  ministry.1  Born  at  Port 
Tobacco,  Maryland,  December  24,  1772,  he  came  with  a  widowed 
mother,  as  a  lad  of  seven,  to  locate  in  Virginia,  near  Danville, 
a  mile  or  two  from  the  North  Carolina  line.  Here  on  March  15, 
1781,  he  heard  the  roar  of  the  cannon  in  the  battle  of  Guilford 
Courthouse  thirty  miles  away,  while  with  two  brothers  he  held 
his  mother's  farm  horses  secure  from  British  raiders  in  the  deep 
forest.  Vice  flourished  in  the  atmosphere  of  war.  However 
Stone  escaped  these  demoralizing  influences.  On  the  other  hand 
he  was  filled  with  a  hatred  of  tyranny  and  an  intense  spirit  of 
liberty  which  found  a  momentous  issue  in  his  career.  The  ele- 
mentary schools,  which  he  attended,  had  the  very  poor  service 
and  equipment  common  to  that  day.  There  they  read  the  Bible, 
until  they  became  so  familiar  with  it  they  wished  variety.  The 
services  of  the  various  religious  denominations  were  very  con- 
fusing to  young  Stone  because  of  their  partisan  bitterness  and 
crude  practices.  For  this  reason  he  made  no  profession  of  reli- 
gion and  drifted  into  worldly  company. 

Shortly  after  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age,  having  received 
a  modest  inheritance  from  his  father,  he  decided  to  study  law. 
The  best  school  in  that  region  was  conducted  by  Dr.  David  Cald- 
well.    This,  in  accord  with  the  primitive  status  of  education  in 


BARTON    WARREN   STONE  27 

America  was  taught  in  a  two-story  log  house  with  a  chimney  in 
the  center,  which  also  served  as  the  residence  of  the  master. 
This  home  of  Dr.  Caldwell  stood  three  miles  northwest  of  the 
present  Courthouse  in  Greensboro,2  and  about  a  quarter-mile 
north  from  the  present  northern  Guilford  College  road.  Noth- 
ing is  left  to  mark  the  site  but  some  vestiges  of  brick  from  the 
foundations  and  two  springs,  one  issuing  from  the  charred 
stump  of  a  big  white  oak,  the  other  some  fifty  yards  away,  from 
the  roots  of  a  living  beech  tree.  The  location  is  on  the  brow  of  a 
low  ridge.  On  the  eastern  side  there  is  a  small  outflowing 
stream  fed  by  the  springs.  It  is  now  an  open  field  skirted  with 
brush,  a  pasture  for  horses.  No  monument  marks  this  historic 
site,  where  the  then  leading  educator  of  Carolina  trained  fifty 
ministers  of  the  Gospel,  five  Governors  of  states  and  other  emi- 
nent men  in  the  professions. 

Here  Stone  matriculated  February  1,  1790,  beginning  with 
a  course  in  the  Latin  Grammar.  He  had  come  with  the  deep 
determination  of  acquiring  an  education.  He  concentrated  upon 
his  study  with  marked  success.  The  atmosphere  of  the  institu- 
tion was  religious.  At  this  Academy  James  McGready,  a  rising 
evangelist  who  was  beginning  to  acquire  fame  as  a  "son  of 
thunder,"  found  a  congenial  field.  A  wave  of  evangelism  swept 
the  student  body.  This  greatly  disturbed  Stone.  He  would 
deliberately  have  avoided  this.  He  planned  to  leave  and  enter 
Hampden-Sidney  College  in  Virginia.  He  set  the  day  for  leav- 
ing but  was  prevented  by  a  storm.  His  roommate,  Benjamin 
McReynolds  was  ' '  a  pious  young  Virginian, ' '  who  induced  Stone 
to  go  and  hear  McGready.  There  was  no  elegance  about 
McGready 's  appearance  and  delivery,  but  there  was  a  fiery 
earnestness  which  went  straight  to  the  heart  of  Stone.  This 
awakened  the  soul  of  Stone,  and  he  began  to  find  himself.  In 
February,  1791,  he  went  some  distance  with  a  group  of  the 
students  to  hear  President  J.  B.  Smith  of  Hampden-Sidney 
preach.  He  also  heard  McGready  again.  This  time  McGready 
thoroughly  aroused  him  with  the  most  effective  evangelistic 
appeal  Stone  had  ever  heard.  For  several  weeks  he  meditated 
and  agonized.  His  mother  on  Dan  River  sent  for  him.  She  was 
deeply  affected  by  the  relation  of  his  experience.  She  at  once 
joined  the  Methodist  church  and  lived  consistently  in  that  faith. 

When  Stone  came  back  to  the  school  in  the  spring  of  1791,  he 


28  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

went  one  Sunday  night  to  hear  William  Hodge  preach  at  Ala- 
mance Church.  This  old  church  was  founded  by  Henry  Pattillo 
in  1762.  It  stood  six  miles  southeast  of  the  present  Greensboro. 
A  monument  now  marks  its  site,  commemorating  the  spot  where 
the  Presbyterians  first  organized  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina 
in  1813.  McGready  was  called  the  "son  of  thunder,"  but  Hodge 
was  called  the  "son  of  consolation."  True  to  form,  Hodge 
preached  that  night  on  the  text  "God  is  Love."  It  was  the  final 
urge  of  the  Spirit  for  Stone.  His  decision  was  now  mature.  He 
openly  professed  faith  in  Christ.  Calvinistic  speculation  as  to 
his  conversion  no  longer  beset  his  way.  A  gospel  message  had 
reached  him.  Henceforth  a  spiritual  glow  was  thrown  over  all 
his  school  work.  He  was  happy.  He  had  found  the  pearl  of 
great  price. 

He  won  the  confidence  of  his  instructor,  for  when  his  money 
was  exhausted,  Dr.  Caldwell  encouraged  him  with  a  liberal 
credit,  and  thus  he  finished  the  course  in  1793.  He  wanted  to 
preach,  but  lingering  in  the  shadows  of  Calvinism  he  was  not 
sure  that  he  was  called.  This  desire  to  preach  had  most  prob- 
ably been  inspired  by  the  doctor's  wife,  Mrs.  Rachel  Craighead 
Caldwell,3  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  her  day.  The 
saying  was  current  that  the  Doctor  made  the  scholars,  but  she 
made  the  preachers.  This  is  a  striking  testimony  to  the  creative 
power  of  personal  contact,  which  was  free  to  be  fully  exerted  in 
those  primitive  schools.  The  clear-headed  teacher  at  once  en- 
couraged him,  assuring  him  there  was  no  need  of  a  miracle ;  that 
with  his  training,  if  he  had  the  ambition,  and  perseverance,  and 
concurrence  of  his  fathers  in  the  faith,  he  could  make  the  min- 
istry his  life  calling.  So  to  push  him  forward  the  Doctor  gave 
him  a  text  upon  which  he  was  to  write  a  discourse  for  the  next 
presbytery. 

David  Caldwell  was  an  outstanding  leader  in  North  Carolina. 
He  was  a  Revolutionary  patriot.4  Cornwallis  had  put  a  price  of 
a  thousand  dollars  on  his  head.  This  was  in  1781.  Ten  years 
before  Caldwell  had  been  at  the  Alamance  Battle  and  did  all 
that  was  possible  to  reconcile  the  fiery  Governor  Tyron  and  the 
rising  commons  of  the  central  counties  thirsting  for  justice  and 
protection  and  independence.  He  was  a  physician,  having  pre- 
pared by  reading  and  association  for  this  extra  service  to  hu- 
manity.    No  regular  physician  was  to  be  found  within  twenty 


BARTON    WARREN    STONE  29 

miles.  He  was  a  Pennsylvanian  and  a  graduate  of  Princeton. 
He  had  located  as  minister  in  1768  for  the  two  churches,  Buffalo 
and  Alamance.  They  paid  him  altogether  but  two  hundred 
dollars  per  year.  As  his  family  increased  he  had  to  supplement 
this  salary  by  teaching  and  farming.  It  was  said  that  in  1776 
he  wrote  into  the  State  Constitution  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State.  When  the  University  of  North  Carolina  was  founded 
he  was  offered  the  Presidency,  but  declined,  due  to  his  advanced 
age.    His  biographer,  Eli  W.  Caruthers,  said  of  him  :5 

There  was  perhaps  no  one  quality,  mental  or  moral,  which  made  him 
conspicuous  above  everybody  else,  and  no  one  branch  of  learning  or  of 
business  in  which  he  excelled  all  other  men — unlss  it  was  the  business  of 
teaching,  in  which,  it  is  believed,  he  had  few  equals,  and  no  superiors;  but 
his  excellence  and  consequently  his  usefulness  consisted  in  a  combination  of 
qualities,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral,  which  rendered  him  one  of  the 
most  useful  men  of  the  age  and  country  in  which  he  lived.  When  in  his 
prime  his  stature  was  above  the  medium  size,  being  a  little  over  six  feet; 
his  attitude  erect  and  firm;  and  his  frame  muscular  and  vigorous.  His 
constitution  was  not  only  sound  and  his  health  uninterrupted,  but  his  habit 
of  business  and  of  study  kept  all  his  powers  of  body  and  mind  in  constant 
and  healthful  exercise.  *  *  *  There  was  that  about  him  which  com- 
manded the  respect,  not  only  of  his  scholars,  but  of  all  who  were  well 
acquainted  with  him;  and  the  more  intimate  the  acquaintance  the  more  sin- 
cere was  the  respect  which  it  inspired.  Whether  he  had  a  mind  which, 
under  more  favorable  circumstances,  would  have  made  improvements  in 
science  or  philosophy,  and  extended  the  boundaries  of  human  knowledge, 
cannot  now  be  known;  for  his  time  was  too  much  occupied  in  communicat- 
ing what  he  had  acquired;  but  those  who  knew  him  well  and  were  good 
judges,  say  that  he  had  a  capacity  for  almost  everything;  for  he  could 
learn  with  great  facility  everything  he  attempted;  and  what  he  once  learned 
he  never  lost.  His  thirst  for  knowledge  was  great;  and  to  acquire  it  he 
spared  neither  toil  nor  expense.  He  was  generous  almost  to  a  fault;  for 
while  his  price  for  tuition  was  low,  $10  or  $12  per  annum,  he  often  made 
no  charge,  especially  for  young  men  who  were  preparing  for  the  ministry; 
and  generally  they  who  came  either  to  beg  or  borrow  were  not  sent  empty 
away.  It  is  said  that  he  was  never  known  to  be  in  a  passion,  to  show  a 
revengeful  spirit,  or  to  lose  his  self-possession;  but  the  most  striking  trait 
in  his  character,  perhaps,  was  that  of  overcoming  evil  with  good;  and  so 
much  was  this  a  habit  with  him  as  to  give  rise  and  currency  to  the  remark 
that  no  man  ever  did  Dr.  Caldwell  an  injury  without  receiving  some  expres- 
sion of  kindness  in  return.  Such  a  man  could  not  live  in  vain;  and  he, 
being  dead,  yet  speaketh. 

As  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  Stone  studied  divinity  under 
William  Hodge,  his  father  in  the  faith,  then  the  minister  at 


30  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Hawfields.  This  is  an  historic  old  church  three  miles  southwest 
of  the  present  town  of  Mebane,  North  Carolina.  Paired  with 
him  in  this  study  was  Samuel  Holmes,  who  later  became  Presi- 
dent of  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  Their  first  textbook, 
Witsius  on  the  Trinity,  was  a  mental  impossibility  with  its 
maze  of  mysticism  and  contradiction.  They  changed  however 
to  Watts  and  found  satisfaction.  Their  examination  was  con- 
ducted by  Henry  Pattillo  of  Granville  County  who  also  ac- 
cepted the  views  of  Watts.  Old  Father  Pattillo  was  a  liberal 
among  the  Presbyterians.  He  had  actually  practiced  open  com- 
munion, and  had  of  course  been  censured  for  it.6  He  acknowl- 
edged that  there  were  Christians  in  other  communions.  One 
may  even  see  in  his  sermons  a  longing  for  Christian  union.  It 
is  interesting  to  reflect  on  the  liberalizing  influence  which  this 
old  fatherly  Scotchman  must  certainly  have  thrown  about  Stone, 
the  impressionable  young  candidate  for  the  ministry.  Pattillo 
professed  to  be  a  moderate  Calvinist.  He  preached  that  love 
was  of  more  consequence  than  orthodoxy.  As  an  examining 
presbyter,  he  was  tactful.  Three  years  later,  1796,  when  grant- 
ing Stone  his  license  to  preach  he  did  not  demand  express  alle- 
giance to  the  Presbyterian  creed  but  he  presented  an  open  Bible 
and  consecrated  the  young  preacher  in  the  words  of  the  Great 
Commission. 

Stone  was  to  have  been  licensed  in  1795.  However,  he  had 
become  financially  depressed,  because  he  had  only  fifteen  dol- 
lars, and  no  means  of  livelihood.  His  mind  was  also  not  at  ease 
in  reconciling  some  of  the  doctrines  his  communion  had  taught 
him  with  that  of  the  relevant,  clear  teaching  of  the  Scriptures, 
as  he  saw  it.  Evading  for  the  time  this  cross-current,  he  went 
to  Washington,  Georgia,  where  two  of  his  brothers  lived,  and 
there  taught  school.  Through  their  influence  he  was  made  pro- 
fessor of  languages  in  the  Methodist  Academy  conducted  by 
Hope  Hull.  Mr.  Springer  was  the  resident  Presbyterian 
preacher.  With  Springer  Stone  became  intimate,  and  his  mind 
turned  again  to  the  ministry  because  of  their  association.  Hav- 
ing taught  at  Washington  for  about  fifteen  months  and  having 
saved  his  money,  he  could  now  pay  all  of  his  debts.  So  he  de- 
cided to  return  to  the  Orange  Presbytery  in  North  Carolina  and 
obtain  his  license. 


BARTON    WARREN    STONE  31 

After  this  recognition  by  the  Presbytery  Stone  began  as  a 
voluntary  missionary;  that  is,  a  travelling  preacher  with  re- 
stricted pay,  in  destitute  fields.  His  fellow-traveller  was  Robert 
Foster.  They  came  to  evangelize  "the  lower  parts  of  the  State." 
Among  the  North  Carolina  Presbyterians,  this  meant  Duplin 
and  New  Hanover  Counties.  The  Grove  church  near  Kenans- 
ville  is  the  oldest  Presbyterian  church  in  the  state.  Before  their 
first  service  Robert  Foster  decided  that  he  was  unqualified  to 
preach,  so  permanently  withdrew  from  the  ministry.  This 
greatly  discouraged  Stone,  since  he  regarded  Foster  as  his  su- 
perior. Stone  in  despair  desired  to  lose  his  identity  among 
strangers.  He  planned  to  go  to  Florida,  and  in  the  absence  of 
Foster  started  off  alone  on  a  Saturday  morning.  However,  he 
stopped  to  attend  service  in  the  neighborhood  the  following 
Lord's  Day.  Here  the  intuition  of  a  good  "mother  in  Israel" 
changed  the  course  of  his  life.  She  suspected  his  purpose,  pro- 
nounced him  a  Jonah,  and  warned  him  of  such  betrayal  of  con- 
science. She  suggested  that  the  great  West  was  a  fruitful  field 
for  young  adventurers,  and  there  he  ought  to  be  happy  in  the 
service  of  his  Lord.  This  suggestion  was  taken.  There  was  a 
turning  of  a  great  tide  in  this  simple,  yet  devout  saying  of  this 
eastern  North  Carolina  woman,  May  1,  1796. 

Stone  retraced  his  route  with  more  determined  step.  From 
that  time,  as  ever  subsequently,  it  was  westward.  Captain 
Sanders,  a  North  Carolina  friend,  had  settled  in  Wythe  County, 
Virginia.  He  detained  Stone  in  that  county  for  the  purpose  of 
preaching  in  June  and  July,  1796.  Stone  left  Knoxville,  Ten- 
nessee, August  14  for  the  western  frontier.  Near  Nashville  he 
found  his  fellow-students  from  Carolina,  William  McGee,  and 
John  Anderson.  He  and  Anderson  agreed  to  travel  together 
and  preach  in  that  sparsely  settled  community  then  called  Cum- 
berland. After  a  few  months  they  went  to  central  Kentucky. 
Stone  located  with  Cane  Ridge  and  Concord  Churches  in  Bour- 
bon County;  Anderson  with  Ashridge  church  near  Lexington. 
Shortly  Anderson  was  recalled  on  important  business  to  North 
Carolina  and  he  never  returned  to  Kentucky.  The  Transyl- 
vania Presbytery  with  which  Stone  had  aligned  sent  him  in  the 
fall  of  1797  on  a  money-raising  errand  to  Charleston,  South 
Carolina.  It  was  to  help  start  Transylvania  University.  It 
was  a  long  hazardous  journey  with  but  few  comrades ;  even  soli- 


32  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

tary  in  large  part,  exposed  to  the  savages  in  Kentucky,  and 
gangs  of  robbers  in  the  Carolina  swamps.  In  Charleston  he  joy- 
fully met  again  his  old  associate,  Samuel  Holmes;  this  time  in 
affluent  surroundings.  After  a  good  visit,  Holmes  accompanied 
Stone  northward,  where  later  Holmes  served  as  President  of  the 
University  of  North  Carolina. 

In  1798  Stone  was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Cane  Ridge 
and  Concord  Churches  through  the  Transylvania  Presbytery. 
Soon  he  was  ordained,  and  a  rift  with  the  Presbyterians  was 
seen  in  his  qualified  acceptance  of  their  confession  of  faith.  He 
said  that  he  accepted  it  only  so  far  as  he  saw  its  consistency  with 
the  Word  of  God.  He  found  kindred  spirits  in  David  Purvi- 
ance,  Richard  McNemar,  John  Dunlavy,  Matthew  Houston,  John 
Thompson,  and  Robert  Marshall.  These  all  revolted  at  the  Cal- 
vinistic  elements  of  the  Presbyterian  creed.  They  advocated 
having  no  creed  but  the  Bible,  assumed  the  name  Christian,  and 
preached  Christian  Union.  For  this  they  were  excluded  from 
the  Presbyterian  Communion.  On  June  28,  1804,  they  became 
a  free  and  distinct  movement.  Of  course  such  a  reformatory 
work  was  subjected  in  the  beginning  to  a  continuous  fiery  trial. 
In  1805,  three  of  the  preachers,  McNemar,  Dunlavy,  and  Hous- 
ton, became  proselytes  of  the  Shakers.  Shortly  Thompson  and 
Marshall  returned  to  the  Presbyterians.  This  left  Stone  and 
Purviance  standing  together,  and  alone,  in  the  leadership  of 
the  infant  cause. 

Notes 

Autobiography,  B.  W.  Stone,  in  "Cane  Ridge  Meeting  House,"  pages 
113-200.  ^'Publications  of  the  Guilford  County  Literary  and  Historical  As- 
sociation," Vol.  I.  page  28,  paper  of  John  C.  "Wharton.  ""Life  of  David 
Caldwell,"  by  E.  W.  Caruthers,  page  26.  4Footes  "Sketches  of  North  Caro- 
lina," pages  231-243.  s"Life  of  David  Caldwell,"  pages  270-272.  «"Sermons" 
by  Henry  Pattillo,  as  stated  in  his  first  sermon,  "On  the  Divisions  Among 
Christians." 


-U       \ 


"N 


Old   Alamance  Church 

This  church  is  about  six  miles  southeast  of  Greensboro.  Barton  W.  Stone 
made  his  first  profession  of  Christian  faith  in  this  building-  on  a  Sunday  night 
in   the   Spring-  of   1791. 


Historic  Homes 


First  Column,  from  the  top  downward:  "Tavern  home,"  General  Wil- 
liam Clark,  Greenville  ;  Home  of  Benjamin  Streeter  ;  Harper  Homestead  near 
Mill  Creek  ;  Home  of  r»r.  Beverly  Jones,  near  Bethania. 

Second  Column,  from  the  top  downward :  Early  Home  of  J.  A.  Transou, 
in  Pfafftown,  where  Dr.  Chester  Billiard  preached  ;  Home  of  John  P.  Dunn, 
near  the  present  Grainger's  Station  ;  Home  of  Thomas  J.  Latham,  in 
PantegT> ;    Home    of   Dr.    Frank    W.    Dixon,    near    Snow    Hill. 


Chapter  II 

DAVID  PURVIANCE 

A  distinct  contribution,  whose  magnitude  historians  have  but 
slightly  recognized,  was  made  by  North  Carolina  to  Stone's 
primary  movement  for  reformation,  in  David  Purviance,  farmer, 
statesman,  and  preacher.  He  was  born  in  Iredell  County,  North 
Carolina,  on  the  south  fork  of  Yadkin  River,  some  eight  or  ten 
miles  from  Statesville,  on  November  14,  1766. x  His  parents 
were  John  and  Jane  Wasson  Purviance,  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania.2 They  were  married  on  August  2,  1764,  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  had  moved  to  the  Yadkin  community  about  two  years  be- 
fore David  was  born.  John  Purviance,  the  father,  volunteered 
in  the  American  Revolution,  and  served  from  the  beginning,  first 
as  lieutenant;  finally  as  colonel.  In  civil  life  he  was  Justice 
of  the  Peace.  These  parents  had  three  sons  and  eight  daughters 
all  of  whom  lived  and  became  heads  of  families. 

The  Purviances  were  members  of  an  old  Presbyterian  family, 
and  were  numbered  with  the  charter  members  of  Bethany 
church  in  Iredell  county  when  it  started  in  1775. 3  The  present 
building  of  this  old  church  stands  on  the  hard-surfaced  highway 
leading  from  Statesville  to  Elkin.  It  is  six  miles  northeast  of 
Statesville.  Dunlap,  the  rural  post  office,  is  within  less  than  a 
mile.  The  ancient  graveyard  is  at  the  north  side  of  the  church. 
There  Dr.  James  Hall,  the  teacher  of  David  Purviance  is  buried. 
When  David  Purviance  was  a  child  the  country  was  so  new 
that  schools  were  inevitably  poor.  Teachers  for  the  most  part 
were  ignorant  and  tyrannical.  However,  David  started  early 
and  his  progress  was  satisfactory  to  his  ambitious  parents,  who 
also  took  care  to  see  that  his  religious  instruction  was  thorough. 
He  memorized,  when  very  young,  all  the  Larger  and  Shorter 
Catechisms,  and  knew  likewise  the  Presbyterian  discipline  then 
in  force,  acquiring  a  special  regard  for  the  sanctity  of  the  Lord's 
Day  which  he  retained  through  life.  He  was  indeed  fortunate 
in  living  in  a  community  where  also  lived  one  of  the  outstanding 
pioneer  teachers  of  North  Carolina,  Dr.  James  Hall. 

33 


34  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Dr.  Hall  was  born  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,4  of  Scotch-Irish 
parents,  on  August  22,  1744.  He  came  with  his  parents  to  the 
South  Yadkin  settlements  near  Statesville,  North  Carolina,  in 
1752,  when  the  first  grants  of  land  were  issued.  His  first  im- 
pressions of  the  ministry  came  from  the  traveling  missionaries 
from  the  North.  At  seventeen  years  of  age  he  mastered  geom- 
etry and  at  twenty-six  began  the  classics.  He  received  a  Bach- 
elor's degree  at  Princeton  in  1774.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  by 
the  Orange  Presbytery  in  1776,  when  there  were  but  seven  other 
Presbyterian  preachers  in  the  State.  He  became  pastor  at 
Bethany,  the  old  home  church  of  David  Purviance,  on  April  8, 
1778.  During  the  American  Revolution  he  was  captain  of  his 
company  and  chaplain  of  his  regiment.  He  wore  a  three- 
cornered  hat  and  brandished  a  long  sword.  William  Henry 
Foote  thus  described  him : 

His  fine  person,  his  stature  above  six  feet,  his  great  muscular  strength 
and  action,  rendered  his  appearance  commanding.  His  courage,  both  moral 
and  physical,  undaunted,  he  was  cool  in  council,  intrepid  in  danger,  and 
decided  in  action.  His  acquaintance  with  the  mathematics,  both  scientifically 
and  practically,  his  great  capability  for  mechanical  pursuits  and  his  ac- 
quaintance with  the  details,  and  his  skill  in  the  operations,  enabled  him  to 
form  his  plans  with  readiness  and  execute  them  with  precision.  His  kind 
and  tender  feeling,  and  enthusiastic  love  of  liberty,  having  the  control  of  a 
fine  voice  and  pleasing  manner,  together  with  his  great  attention  to  personal 
appearance,  fitted  him  to  gain  and  to  hold  the  affections  of  men.  His  stern 
morality,  undoubted  piety  and  practical  religion,  carried  everywhere  with 
him,  combined  with  an  amiable  disposition,  called  forth  the  reverence  of  the 
good  and  the  respect  of  all. 

Dr.  Hall  was  one  of  the  great  leaders  of  America  in  Presby- 
terian councils.  He  attended  their  General  Assembly  at  Phila- 
delphia, sixteen  times,  serving  once  as  Moderator.  He  helped 
to  form  the  American  Bible  Society,  was  a  life-member  of  it,  and 
was  the  first  President  of  the  North  Carolina  State  Bible  Society. 
At  his  school  he  inspired  mai^  young  men  to  enter  the  ministry. 
This  was  at  a  time  when  Tom  Paine  attacked  Christian  faith, 
and  when  doubt  and  disbelief  were  prevalent  in  the  young  Re- 
public. He  trained  such  outstanding  minds  as  Rev.  Richard 
King  of  Tennessee,  Gov.  Israel  Pickens,  of  Alabama,  and  Dr. 
James  Blythe,  of  Kentucky.  Dr.  Blythe  was  acting  President  of 
Transylvania  University,  Lexington,  Kentucky,  from  1804  to 
1816.     Blythe  was  a  leading  Presbyterian  opponent  in  contro- 


DAVID    PURVIANCE  35 

versy  with  Barton  W.  Stone.  Dr.  Hall  never  married.  He  made 
a  deliberate  sacrifice  in  this,  choosing  thus  to  conserve  his  oppor- 
tunities for  an  effective  ministry  in  civilization's  frontiers.  He 
made  fourteen  long  and  laborious  missionary  journeys.  Perhaps 
the  most  important  of  these  was  his  mission  to  the  region  of 
Natchez,  Mississippi,  in  1800.  This  was  the  pioneer  Protestant 
effort  in  the  lower  Mississippi  valley.  In  1810,  he  and  Dr.  David 
Caldwell  on  the  same  day  each  received  the  D.D.  degree  from 
the  University  of  North  Carolina.  He  died  July  25,  1826,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-two. 

On  October  27,  1778,  David  Purviance  at  the  age  of  twelve 
years  entered  the  school  of  Dr.  Hall.  At  first  it  was  in  "Clio's 
Nursery, ' '  on  the  northern  side  of  the  South  Yadkin  River.5  His 
"classmates"  were  five  in  number  as  follows:  Moses  Waddel, 
who  later  became  President  of  the  University  of  Georgia;  Ed- 
ward Harris,  who  later  became  Judge  of  Superior  Court  of 
North  Carolina  during  life;  Richard  King,  who  became  a  dis- 
tinguished minister;  and  James  Nisbet  and  Joseph  Guy,  who 
later  became  successful  physicians  and  representatives  in  the 
State  Legislature.  Later  he  was  taught  in  the  teacher's  home, 
and  in  a  small  log  building,  eighteen  by  twenty  feet,  which  stood 
immediately  to  the  rear  of  Dr.  Hall's  home.  This  was  called  the 
"Academy  of  Science."  It  housed,  however,  the  best  teaching 
equipment  for  science  to  be  found  in  North  Carolina  previous 
to  the  opening  of  the  University  at  Chapel  Hill.  Here  he  studied 
Greek  and  Latin,  as  well  as  mathematics.  His  son,  Levi  Purvi- 
ance, said  of  his  father,  "He  prosecuted  his  studies  with  inde- 
fatigable industry  and  made  great  proficiency  in  learning,  con- 
sidering his  opportunity."  A  portion  of  the  eighteenth  eentury 
home  of  Dr.  Hall  yet  stands.  It  is  at  the  crest  of  a  gently  sloping 
and  beautifully  wooded  hill,  a  mile  south  of  the  principal  resi- 
dence of  the  present  Halldale  farm,  and  about  seven  miles  north- 
east of  Statesville.  It  is  nearly  two  miles  from  old  Bethany 
church.  The  foundations  of  the  old  "Academy"  appear  in  the 
cornerstones  lying  securely  in  the  sod.  When  it  is  considered 
what  a  pivotal  man  David  Purviance  became  for  Kentucky  and 
Ohio  Disciples  this  is  verily  an  historic  spot.  The  old  building 
is  a  decaying  landmark,  long  untenanted,  in  a  field  used  as  an 
upland  pasture  for  cows.  No  marker  is  there  to  declare  its  sig- 
nificance in  history. 


36  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OP    CHRIST 

The  training  of  Purviance  was  rudely  interrupted  by  the 
American  Revolution.  His  father  was  absent  in  the  service  and 
David  the  oldest  son  assisted  greatly  in  procuring  the  living. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  a  dispatch  rider  for  the 
Colonial  armies.6  When  peace  came  he  resumed  his  studies  with 
such  intensity  that  his  health  was  impaired  for  a  time.  Regain- 
ing his  strength,  he  taught  Greek  and  Latin,  and  current  sub- 
jects of  literature.  Later  he  was  assistant  to  the  Clerk  of  Court 
at  Salisbury,  before  Iredell  county  was  formed  in  1788.  In  1789 
he  married  a  girl  of  the  community,  Miss  Mary  Ireland,  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Martha  Ireland.  She  was  a  member  of  an  old 
Irish  Presbyterian  family  which  came  with  the  early  settlers 
from  Pennsylvania. 

His  father  gave  them  a  farm  on  the  South  Yadkin  where  they 
lived  for  two  years.  In  1791  he  sold  this  property,  and  with  his 
father  and  other  relatives  moved  to  central  Tennessee,  settling 
in  the  Cumberland  River  valley  near  Nashville.  Here  the  In- 
dians were  yet  at  war.  They  killed  his  brother  John.  So  in  the 
fall  of  1792  he  and  his  relatives  removed  to  Cane  Ridge,  Ky.  He 
located  on  a  small  tract  of  land  three  miles  south  of  the  Cane 
Ridge  meeting  house. 

In  1786  when  about  twenty  years  of  age  David  Purviance  was 
formally  received  into  the  membership  of  Bethany  Presbyterian 
church.  In  his  personal  memoirs  he  wrote  thus  of  his  conver- 
sion :7 

In  process  of  time  my  mind  was  enlightened,  I  had  some  just  views  of 
the  majesty  and  holiness  of  God,  and  of  my  own  wretched  sinful  state.  I 
had  been  previously  taught  to  repeat  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  perhaps  some 
others.  But  then  I  began  to  pray  indeed,  and  the  prayer  of  the  publican 
suited  me  precisely.  I  persevered  in  secret  prayer,  and  ere  long  my  soul  was 
comforted  and  glowed  with  love  to  God  and  to  all  mankind.  I  felt  a  sweet 
nearness  and  union  with  every  one  who  (I  believed)  possessed  the  same 
spirit;  yet  a  thought  of  being  anything  else  than  a  Presbyterian  did  not 
enter  my  mind,  and  having  not  yet  come  to  the  age  at  which  it  was  usual 
for  persons  to  apply  for  admission  to  the  full  communion  of  the  church,  I 
kept  back  and  after  some  time  relapsed,  and  for  a  considerable  time  neg- 
lected secret  prayer.  But  again  I  was  bro  't  to  mourn  for  my  sins  and 
backslidings  and  renew  my  engagedness :  and  finally  applied  to  our  preacher, 
old  Dr.  Hall;  was  examined  as  to  my  exercise  and  experience,  and  admitted 
to  the  communion-table. 


DAVID   PURVIANCE  37 

Purviance  preceded  Stone  to  the  Cane  Ridge  community  by 
four  years.  He  was  there  at  the  building  of  the  church  and 
helped  to  receive  their  first  pastor,  Robert  W.  Finley,  of  North 
Carolina.  Purviance  was  then  a  layman.  They  made  him  ruling 
elder  in  1797. 

He  united  definitely  with  Stone's  forces  in  1803,  and  in  1804 
was  a  signer  of  the  Last  Will  and  Testament  of  the  Springfield 
Presbytery.  About  the  same  time  he  decided  to  enter  the 
ministry  and  qualified  for  it.  In  a  letter  from  Stone  dated  Cane 
Ridge,  Kentucky,  April  2,  1805,8  to  Richard  McNemar,  Turtle 
Creek,  Ohio,  Stone  said  that  Purviance  had  gone  to  preach  in 
North  Carolina,  "at  the  request  of  some  there."  It  is  to  be  as- 
sumed as  a  matter  of  course  that  he  had  gone  back  to  his  old 
home  community  near  Statesville.  Purviance  said  that  he  was 
in  North  Carolina  about  two  months  in  the  spring  of  1805.  He 
preached  that  they  should  wear  only  the  name  Christian,  and 
have  the  Bible  alone  as  an  all-sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice to  the  end  that  all  Christians  might  be  united  in  the  bonds 
of  love.  He  thus  was  the  first  preacher  positively  aligned  with 
the  Stone  Movement  to  proclaim  this  belief  in  North  Carolina. 

He  served  with  peculiar  distinction  in  the  Kentucky  Legisla- 
ture. A  circulating  library,  and  a  debating  society,  and  the 
teaching  and  inspiration  of  a  great  instructor  back  in  the  old 
Bethany  community  in  North  Carolina  had  equipped  this  fron- 
tiersman for  statesmanship.  He  served  seventeen  terms  in  the 
Kentucky  and  Ohio  Legislatures.9  In  some  notable  crises  in  the 
Kentucky  law-making  body  he  was  the  most  powerful  debater  in 
it,  defeating  such  giants  of  the  forum  as  John  Breckinridge  and 
Felix  Grundy10  on  the  open  floor  as  registered  in  the  votes  on  the 
respective  issues. 

Purviance  and  Stone  were  great  friends.11  He  said  Stone  was 
"a  man  of  deep  study  and  research,"  and  that  they  "lived  and 
labored  together  in  perfect  harmony  and  brotherly  love."  He 
further  said:  "Stone  studied  the  peace  of  the  church,  and  his 
character  for  candor  and  honesty  was  so  well  established,  that  by 
pursuing  a  prudent  course,  he  preserved  the  people  in  the  unity 
of  the  spirit,  and  retained  their  confidence."  Purviance  had 
taken  the  initiative  in  declaring  for  immersion  as  baptism,  and 
had  Stone  to  immerse  him  in  1807,  before  Stone  himself  had 
been  immersed.    However,  Stone  soon  followed  suit.    The  exam- 


38  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

pie  of  Purviance,  the  first  of  the  preachers  of  that  group  to  be 
immersed,  induced  Reuben  Dooley,  another  preacher,  to  be 
immersed  the  same  hour  by  Purviance.  Thereafter,  immersion 
became  the  accepted  practice  of  this  reforming  group. 

In  September,  1807,  Purviance  removed  to  Preble  county, 
Ohio.  Many  Kentuckians  were  then  settling  Ohio.  John  Thomp- 
son was  a  leading  preacher  in  Ohio,  as  was  Robert  Marshall  in 
Kentucky.  These  two  men,  Thompson  and  Marshall,  had  eagerly 
started  with  this  group  of  reformers,  but  after  the  adoption  of 
immersion,  they  reacted,  and  went  back  to  the  Presbyterians. 
They  then  deliberately  planned  to  wreck  the  Stone  Movement, 
but  they  were  ' '  withstood  to  the  face ' '  by  Purviance  in  Ohio  and 
Stone  in  Kentucky,  the  two  leaders  left  in  the  Movement.  Thus 
the  going  of  Purviance  to  Ohio,  and  Stone's  remaining  in  Ken- 
tucky were  providential  in  sustaining  the  infant  cause. 

From  his  Illinois  home,  near  the  close  of  his  life,  after  his 
paralytic  stroke,  Stone  made  a  "sunset  tour"  among  his  old 
friends  in  Indiana,  Ohio,  and  Kentucky.12  His  happiest  visit 
was  with  Purviance  of  Ohio.  They  had  worked  together,  firmly 
and  lovingly  as  brothers,  through  the  vicissitudes  of  forty  years 
in  their  reformatory  effort. 

These  two  men  from  North  Carolina,  trained  in  North  Caro- 
lina by  her  two  foremost  teachers  of  the  day,  pioneered  the  new 
Christian  Cause  in  the  great  "West.  They  had  the  faith  and 
stamina  to  see  it  through. 

Notes 

1"Life  of  David  Purviance,"  by  Levi  Purviance,  page  13.  2Ibid.,  page  9. 
3Foote's  "Sketches  of  North  Carolina,"  page  316.  •'Ibid.,  pages  315-336. 
^"Memorials  of  Waddel  Family,"  page  38.  6"Life  of  David  Purviance," 
page  14.  7Ibid.,  pages  135,  130.  s"The  Kentucky  Revival,"  bv  Richard 
McNemar,  page  78.  9"The  Centennial  of  Religious  Journalism,"  page  336. 
10"The  Cane  Ridge  Meeting  House,"  pages  207-237.  ""Biographv  of  B.  W. 
Stone,"    by   John    Rogers,    pages    120-129.      "Ibid.,    pages    80-81. 


Chapter  III 

THE  CREATHS 

North  Carolina  gave  some  distinguished  Baptist  pioneers  to 
the  west  as  well  as  Presbyterian.  Standing  high  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  Baptists  within  the  first 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  and 
his  nephew,  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.  Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  was  the  son 
of  Samuel  and  Susan  Moore  Creath  who  were  Irish  Presby- 
terians. An  older  brother  of  Jacob,  Sr.,  was  William,  the  father 
of  Jacob,  Jr.1  William  Creath  was  born  in  1768  during  the  sea- 
passage  of  his  emigrant  parents  from  Dublin,  Ireland,  to  Hali- 
fax, of  Nova  Scotia.  Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  was  born  near  Cumber- 
land, Nova  Scotia,  on  February  22,  1777. 2  The  father  because  of 
his  sympathy  with  the  Americans  in  their  War  for  Indepen- 
dence, had  been  wounded  and  imprisoned  by  the  British  authori- 
ties a  few  days  previous  to  the  birth  of  this  son.  They  kept  him 
in  jail  at  Halifax,  two  hundred  miles  from  his  home,  for  seven 
years,  feeding  him  on  mouldy  bread  and  water.  In  the  mean- 
time they  confiscated  his  rich  valley  farm  of  five  hundred  acres 
on  the  St.  Lawrence,  with  all  its  live  stock  and  personal  prop- 
erty. The  mother  was  cruelly  treated  by  "Red  Coats"  and  left 
destitute  with  four  small  children.  Her  son  Jacob,  born  under 
such  circumstances,  must  have  had  the  hatred  of  oppression  and 
the  love  of  liberty  stamped  in  his  soul  at  life's  beginning. 

In  1784,  the  British  released  Samuel  Creath,  but  outlawed 
him,  and  gave  him  but  twenty  days  to  leave  Canada,  or  be 
hanged.  He  and  his  family  came  to  New  York,  then  to  Cherry 
Valley,  in  Pennsylvania.  In  1786,  when  Jacob  was  nine  years  of 
age,  they  settled  in  the  Grassy  Creek  community  in  Granville 
County,  North  Carolina.  They  lived  here  for  fourteen  years. 
Here  the  brothers  William  and  Jacob  grew  to  maturity.  At  the 
time  of  the  Creaths'  arrival,3  and  for  a  year  after,  Grassy 
Creek  was  enjoying  the  greatest  revival  of  her  history.  So 
William  Creath  left  the  Presbyterians  and  was  baptized  into 
this  church  by  Henry  Lester  in  1787.    In  February,  1795,  Jacob, 

39 


40  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Sr.,  united  likewise  and  was  baptized  by  Thomas  Vass,  pastor 
at  Grassy  Creek  Meeting  House. 

Grassy  Creek  is  one  of  the  oldest  Baptist  churches  now  serv- 
ing in  North  Carolina.  It  was  founded  in  1755  most  probably 
by  Shubael  Stearns,  a  Connecticut  convert  of  George  Whitfield. 
He  was  a  "New  Light"  Baptist.  His  fellow-traveller,  Daniel 
Marshall,  also  a  "New  Light"  Baptist  convert  of  Whitefield, 
assisted  in  the  founding,  and  afterwards  held  meetings  with 
many  converts.  Hugh  McAden,  a  noted  Presbyterian  itinerant 
preached  here  August  14,  1755.  This  church  joined  the  Sandy 
Creek  Association  when  it  was  formed  in  1758.  This  was  an 
organization  of  Separate  Baptists.  They  were  called  General 
Baptists  in  England,  as  distinct  from  Particular  Baptists  there ; 
so  in  New  England  they  were  called  Separate  Baptists,  as  dis- 
tinct from  Regular  Baptists.  The  Baptists  of  central  North 
Carolina  descended  from  these  New  England  Separates.4  It  was 
the  practice  of  these  early  North  Carolina  Baptists  to  observe 
the  Lord's  Supper  each  Lord's  Day.  They  never  formulated 
or  adopted  any  creed,  as  a  binding  standard  of  faith.5  They 
contended  that  the  Scriptures  were  sufficient  for  the  faith  and 
practice  of  Christians.  The  "anxious  seat,"  or  "mourners' 
bench"  was  not  introduced  at  Grassy  Creek  until  about  1830,6 
long  after  the  Creaths  had  left.  It  was  a  common  practice  in 
the  time  when  Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  was  at  Grassy  Creek  for  the 
pastor  to  immerse  one  upon  the  simple  profession  of  his  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and,  at  once  account  him  a  member  of  Christ's 
flock.7  However,  when  the  more  numerous  Baptists  of  eastern 
North  Carolina  had  been  led  fully  to  adopt  the  Calvanistic  sys- 
tem of  the  Philadelphia  Association,  and  had  merged  with  these 
of  the  central  region,  then  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Sandy 
Creek  group  lost  many  of  these  old  simplicities.  So  Jacob 
Creath,  Jr.,  twenty-two  years  younger  than  his  uncle,  called 
himself  a  ' '  Calvinistic  Baptist  preacher. ' ' 

The  building  of  old  Grassy  Creek  stands  today  in  a  slightly 
elevated  grove  by  the  county  road,  fifteen  miles  north  of  Ox- 
ford, North  Carolina.  The  nearest  village,  Stovall,  is  but  a  few 
miles  away  on  the  State  highway  due  north  of  Oxford.  The 
present  structure  is  typically  rural.  It  is  a  one-room,  rectangu- 
lar, frame  building.  It  is  quite  near  the  iron  bridge  which  spans 
Grassy  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Roanoke  River.     The  original 


THE    CREATHS  41 

building,  where  the  Great  hs  attended,  was  a  large  frame  build- 
ing.8 It  stood  two  hundred  yards  from  the  present  one.  In 
1833  after  more  than  seventy-five  years'  service  it  was  aban- 
doned for  the  meeting  house  of  today. 

While  the  formative  years  of  the  life  of  Jacob  Creath,  Sr., 
were  spent  in  North  Carolina,  his  early  ministry  was  in  Virginia 
where  he  was  ordained  in  Louisa  County  in  1798.  He  married 
Miss  Mildred  Carter,  of  Lancaster  County  in  the  "Northern 
Neck,"  of  Virginia  in  1799.  He  then  became  group  pastor  of  a 
large  Baptist  constituency  in  Mathews  County  with  residence  at 
Kingston  near  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake.  In  1803  he  re- 
moved to  Lexington,  Kentucky,  assuming  the  old  charge  of  the 
famous  John  Gano,  as  pastor  at  Town  Fork.  He  soon  was  re- 
garded as  the  ablest  preacher  of  any  faith  in  that  new  common- 
wealth. In  the  "Great  Revival,"  in  Kentucky,  in  one  year, 
1827,  fourteen  hundred  baptisms  were  the  fruits  of  his  meetings. 
His  biographer  said  :9  ' '  He  was  about  five  feet,  ten  inches  high, 
had  a  dark  skin,  a  large  mouth,  and  a  keen,  expressive  black  eye. 
*  *  *  His  style  as  a  public  speaker  was  argumentative, 
flowery,  and  pathetic  by  turns.  His  voice  was  unusually  mus- 
ical; though  loud,  it  was  full,  and  clear,  and  sweet,  like  the 
notes  of  a  deep-toned  organ." 

Henry  Clay  said  that  Creath  was  "the  finest  orator  Kentucky 
had  ever  produced."  It  was  said  by  thoughtful  observers  that 
he  could  have  been  elected  Governor  of  Kentucky  at  any  time 
he  might  have  consented  to  be  a  candidate.10  Thomas  Campbell 
said  that  Creath 's  defense  at  his  exclusion  by  the  Baptists  in 
1830  was  the  "most  masterly  and  overwhelming  piece  of  elo- 
quence to  which  he  had  ever  listened."  Alexander  Campbell 
characterized  his  voice  as  "that  most  eloquent  tongue  which  had 
echoed  for  half  a  century  through  Northern  Kentucky  with  such 
resistless  sway  as  to  have  quelled  the  maddening  strife  of  sec- 
tarian tongues,  and  propitiated  myriads  of  ears  and  hearts  to 
the  divine  eloquence  of  almighty  love." 

When  we  consider  his  nephew  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  we  find  less 
eloquence  but  more  initiative  and  aggressiveness  in  planting  the 
Cause  of  the  Disciples  throughout  the  West.  He  was  born  near 
the  North  Carolina  line  in  Mecklenburg  County,  Virginia,  Jan- 
uary 17,  1799.  His  parents  were  William  and  Lucretia  Brame 
Creath.     The  father  was  a  Baptist  evangelist,  product  of  old 


42  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Grassy  Creek,  of  Granville  County,  North  Carolina.  William 
Creath  itinerated  over  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  and  Maryland, 
passing  to  his  eternal  reward  at  E  dent  on,  North  Carolina,  in 
1823,  at  the  residence  of  John  Blunt.11  Mrs.  William  Creath 
was  a  strong  character.  She  reared  nine  sons,  five  of  whom 
entered  the  ministry.  One  of  these,  J.  W.  D.  Creath,  was  a  Bap- 
tist minister  in  Texas,  the  premier  organizer  of  churches  in  the 
Southwest,  and  was  called  "the  most  apostolic  man  in  Texas.' ' 
In  his  youth,  Jacob  received  a  fair  training,  while  performing 
the  usual  labor  of  a  farm-boy.  He  was  converted  under  the 
preaching  of  James  Shelburne,12  father  of  Silas  Shelburne,  in 
April,  1817,  and  preached  his  first  sermon  in  June  of  that  year. 

He  felt  keenly  the  need  of  adequate  training.  So  in  January, 
1819,  he  visited  William  Dossey,  an  old  friend  of  his  father,  who 
lived  at  Society  Hill  in  South  Carolina,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  miles  north  of  Charleston.13  He  wanted  help  from  the 
Charleston  Association  to  put  himself  through  school.  He  was 
directed  to  the  University  of  North  Carolina  for  training  under 
Abner  W.  Clopton,  who  was  described  as  "a  learned,  good  man, 
a  physician,  and  a  professor  in  the  University."  Creath 
promptly  came  to  Chapel  Hill,  North  Carolina,  and  began  the 
study  of  the  "Latin,  Greek,  and  English  languages,  and  The- 
ology," under  Professor  Clopton.  Creath  said,  "I  found  him 
an  admirably  qualified  instructor  and  a  true  friend."  At  this 
time  the  University  had  but  two  buildings,  known  today  as  the 
"Old  East"  and  the  "Old  South."  She  enrolled  that  year  118 
students.14  There  were  five  instructors.  Joseph  Caldwell  was 
President.  Their  Annual  Catalogue  was  a  single  sheet  of  paper, 
called  a  "Broadside,"  in  size,  seventeen  and  a  half  inches  wide 
by  twenty-one  inches  deep. 

He  remained  at  Chapel  Hill  for  about  twenty  months,  then 
followed  Clopton  to  Milton,  a  village  in  Caswell  county,  North 
Carolina.  Here  had  been  newly  built  a  handsome  brick  academy 
by  Clopton  for  his  new  school.  This  was  in  September,  1820. 
Clopton  was  pastor  of  Mill  Creek  Baptist  Church  in  the  same 
county.  Here  Clopton  had  Creath  examined  by  the  church  offi- 
cers on  September  24,  1820.  They  ordained  him  to  the  ministry. 
After  examining  him,  they  said  that  they  found  him,  "sound  in 
the  faith,  and  qualified,  and  called  of  God,  as  we  believe,  to  the 
ministrv   of  the   word,   and   ordinances."      Afterward,    Pastor 


THE    CREATHS  43 

Clopton,  and  Clerk  John  Lee  gave  him  a  recommendation  at  the 
order  of  this  church,  saying  that,  "as  a  member  he  is  regular 
and  orderly  in  his  deportment,  and,  as  a  minister,  highly  ac- 
ceptable." Creath  continued  his  study  in  the  Milton  School 
until  November,  1821,  when  he  entered  Columbian  College, 
Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  for  two  years'  further  work. 

Abner  W.  Clopton,  the  teacher  of  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  was  born 
in  Pittsylvania  County,  Virginia,  March  24,  1784.  He  entered 
the  University  of  North  Carolina  in  January,  1808,  and  gradu- 
ated in  1810.  He  was  baptized  at  Shockoe  Baptist  Church,  Pitt- 
sylvania County,  Virginia,  August  1,  1812.  He  was  then  elected 
head  of  the  preparatory  department  of  his  Alma  Mater  at 
Chapel  Hill,  in  which  position  he  served  from  1812  to  1820.  In 
1813  he  believed  in  open  communion  but  later  adopted  closed 
communion.  A  singular  occurrence  showing  him  in  one  instance 
to  be  peculiarly  liberal  was  his  placing  himself  under  Presby- 
terian theologians  in  the  Orange  Presbytery,  while  in  training 
for  the  Baptist  ministry.  In  1827  he  was  agent  for  Columbian 
College,  "Washington,  District  of  Columbia.  A  few  years  before 
his  death  he  published  several  articles  in  the  Columbian  Star 
and  other  papers  in  bitter  opposition  to  Alexander  Campbell. 
He  said,  "Campbellism  is  a  scheme  of  religious  infidelity,  dan- 
gerous to  the  souls  of  men  and  to  the  real  prosperity  of  the 
church  of  Christ."  He  further  called  it  "the  desolating 
scourge."  In  turn,  Campbell  referred  to  him  as  a  "religious 
hypochondriac."15  This  was  the  age  of  strong  controversy. 
Clopton  died  on  March  20,  1833. 

While  in  Columbian  College,  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  became  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  John  T.  Johnson,  a  Kentucky  Congress- 
man. Johnson  gave  Creath  the  full  credit  for  leading  him  into 
the  "Restoration  Movement,"  at  Georgetown,  Kentucky,  in  1830. 
Johnson  was  a  pivotal  evangelist  in  the  early  development  of 
Disciples  in  Kentucky  and  also  in  the  west  and  southwest  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  When  Creath  left  North  Carolina  for  Ken- 
tucky in  1824,  the  executive  Board  of  the  Baptist  State  Mis- 
sionary Society  gave  him  a  ringing  recommendation.16  It  is 
dated  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  November  6,  1824,  and  signed 
by  Philemon  Bennett,  Robert  T.  Daniel,  and  William  Light  foot. 
They  stated  that  they  had  known  him  from  his  youth ;  that  he 
was  "a  man  of  unimpeachable  morals,  orthodox  in  sentiment, 


44  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

sound  integrity,  strict  prudence,  sterling  talents,  and  a  highly 
acceptable  and  useful  minister,  among  all  classes  of  society." 
They  were  confident  "that  he  will  be  blessed  in  every  place 
where  he  may  labor." 

In  writing  an  appreciation  of  Alexander  Campbell,  in  March 
1867,  about  a  year  after  Campbell's  death,  Creath  confessed 
briefly  as  to  how  he  became  his  colleague.    He  said : 

As  I  rode  from  North  Carolina  in  November  and  December,  1824,  to 
Kentucky  through  the  mountains,  my  mind  was  engaged  in  prayer,  and 
greatly  exercised  on  the  condition  of  religious  society.  I  saw  the  evils  that 
existed,  but  knew  not  the  remedy.  In  the  meantime,  not  far  from  the 
Cumberland  Gap,  I  overtook  a  horsedrover  from  the  south,  who  lived  in 
Lexington,  Kentucky,  whose  name  was  Hasben,  who  had  been  to  the  south 
with  horses,  and  was  returning  home.  He  was  the  first  man  that  introduced 
me  to  the  name  of  A.  Campbell,  who  had  preached  in  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
about  one  year  previously,  after  the  debate  in  Washington,  in  October, 
1823.  The  account  which  he  gave  of  him  was  very  favorable,  although  he 
was  a  wicked  man.  When  I  arrived  in  Kentucky,  my  first  associations  were 
with  the  Calvinistic  Baptists,  to  which  sect  I  then  belonged,  and  the  im- 
pression which  they  made  upon  me  respecting  brother  Campbell  was  very 
unfavorable.  They  told  me  he  was  a  Socinian,  an  Arian,  a  heretic  of  the 
worst  kind,  and  I  believed  them;  and  as  the  first  impressions  are  the  most 
indelible  it  was  very  difficult  for  me  to  divest  myself  of  these  prejudices 
against  him.  When  I  arrived  at  my  uncle's  (Jacob  Creath,  Sr.),  in  Frank- 
lin County,  Kentucky,  not  far  from  Frankfort,  I  there  saw  the  first  copy 
of  the  Christian  Baptist,  or  the  first  numbers  of  that  work,  which  I  had 
ever  seen.  My  uncle,  who  had  formed  a  warm  attachment  for  Brother 
Campbell,  from  seeing  him,  from  being  much  in  his  company,  and  hearing 
him  converse  frequently  with  many  persons,  and  hearing  him  preach,  gave 
me,  as  I  now  believe,  the  true  account  of  him,  as  being  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  men  of  this  or  any  other  century;  still  I  was  shy  and  sus- 
picious of  his  orthodoxy.  Knowing,  however,  that  I  am  a  tenant  at  will 
of  my  great  and  good  Father  in  heaven  here  on  earth,  and  not  knowing 
when,  or  how,  nor  under  what  circumstances  I  may  be  deprived  of  my 
occupancy,  and  knowing  that  my  breath  and  all  my  ways  are  in  the  hands 
of  Him  who  does  according  to  His  will  in  the  armies  of  heaven  and  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  I  wish  before  I  go  home,  to  bear  my  feeble 
testimony  to  the  great  worth  of  our  deceased  brother,  not  caring  how  it 
may  be  regarded,  as  I  know  I  speak  what  is  true,  to  the  best  of  my  recol- 
lection. 

Alexander  Campbell,  writing  of  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  observed 

as  follows:17 

Brother  Creath  is  the  first  man  known  to  me  who  propagated  the  old 
gospel  in  the  Southern  States.  *  *  *  From  the  South  he  came  to  see 
me  at  Bethany  in  the  Spring  of  1828,  and  assisted  me  by  his  writings,  his 


THE    CREATHS  45 

preaching,  his  conversation,  and  the  information  which  he  gave  me  of  the 
Baptists  in  the  Southern  and  middle  States  at  that  time  *  *  *  If  he 
and  his  eloquent  and  much  venerated  Uncle,  Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  not  very 
long  since  gone  to  his  reward,  Brother  John  Smith  and  a  few  similar  spirits, 
had  set  their  faces  against  the  reformation  in  Kentucky,  as  some  other 
men  then  did,  it  would  have  made  comparatively  little  progress. 

Creath  gave  over  sixty  years  of  his  life  to  the  great  West, 
making  his  home  first  in  Kentucky,  then  in  Missouri.  After  his 
exclusion  for  heresy  by  the  Elkhorn  Baptist  Association  without 
trial  in  1830,  he  wholeheartedly  served  the  new  Movement.  He 
pioneered  for  it  in  Chicago,  Memphis,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans, 
St.  Paul,  and  other  centers  too  numerous  to  recount.  He  dis- 
covered Alexander  Proctor  of  Missouri,  a  brilliant  light  among 
Disciples  of  the  succeeding  generation.  The  two  Creaths,  uncle 
and  nephew,  with  "Raccoon"  John  Smith  and  John  T.  Johnson 
were  the  four  outstanding  men  who  supported  the  Movement  of 
the  Campbells  in  Kentucky.  And  when  these  united  with 
Stone's  forces  in  1832  they  became  the  most  formidable  religious 
group  in  that  "Mother  State,"  for  the  progressive  evangelizing 
of  that  State  and  kindred  lands  toward  the  setting  Sun. 

Notes 

*"Jjife  of  Jacob  Creath.  Jr.,"  by  Donan,  page  41.  =Ibid.,  pages  201-212. 
3"History  of  Grassy  Creek  Baptist  Church,"  by  Robert  I.  Devin,  page  85. 
*rbid.,  page  60;  see  also  "History  of  Sandy  Creek  Baptist  Association,"  by 
George  W.  Purefoy.  6Ibid.,  page  61.  6Ibid.,  page  70.  Ubid.,  page  90.  "Ibid., 
page  92.  ""Life  of  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,"  page  211.  A  Biographical  Skotch 
of  Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  is  appended  in  P.  Donan's  biography  of  Jacob  Creath, 
Jr.  ""Debates  That  Made  History,"  by  J.  J.  Haley,  page  180.  ""History 
of  Virginia  Baptists,"  by  Beale — Semple.  page  295.  Also  "History  of  the 
Grassy  Creek  Baptist  Church,"  by  Robt.  I.  Devin,  pai?e  140.  l:"L,ife  of  Jacob 
Creath,  Jr.,"  page  51.  "Ibid.,  page  61.  "Catalogue,  U.  of  N.  C,  1819. 
lr'Millennial  Harbinger,  1830,  page  239.  1G"Dife  of  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,"  page 
65.     17Millennial  Harbinger,   1857,   pages  503-5,04. 


Chapter  IV 

JOSEPH  THOMAS,  THE  "WHITE  PILGRIM" 

One  of  the  remarkable  personalities  of  the  early  decades  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century  in  the  religious  life  of  North  Carolina,  was 
that  of  Joseph  Thomas,  the  "White  Pilgrim."  He  was  born 
in  Hawfields  community,  a  few  miles  southwest  of  Mebane,  in 
Alamance  County,  North  Carolina,  March  7,  1791. 1  This  old 
Hawfields  Church  is  Presbyterian,  and  was  founded  in  1755. 
Her  first  pastor  was  Henry  Pattillo  who  figured  so  prominently 
in  the  beginning  of  Barton  WT.  Stone's  ministry.  Another  of 
her  ministers  was  William  Hodge  who  converted  Stone.  Haw- 
fields received  its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  was  in  the  midst  of 
the  cultivated  fields  of  the  Saxapahaw  Indians,  who  were  settled 
tillers  of  the  soil.  The  first  camp-meeting  ever  held  in  North 
Carolina  was  at  Hawfields  in  October,  1801,  the  "year  of  the 
great  revival"  as  it  was  called  throughout  the  South  and  West. 
These  camp-meetings  in  the  days  of  Thomas  were  inter-denomi- 
national gatherings,  of  a  popular  character.  They  provided  an 
annual  expression  of  the  social  and  religious  order  of  a  large 
community. 

It  was  at  one  of  these  camp-meetings  in  October,  1806,  that 
Joseph  Thomas  became  deeply  concerned  about  the  salvation  of 
his  soul,  under  the  preaching  of  William  Guirey,  from  Georgia. 
Guirey  was  associated  with  the  Movement  of  James  0 'Kelly. 
Guirey  believed  in  open  communion,  and  immersion  as  the  form 
of  baptism.  Joseph  Thomas  had  made  an  intensive  study  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  was  one  of  the  very  few  books  available 
for  his  reading.  On  May  7,  1807,  he  made  an  open  profession  of 
his  Christian  faith  and  determined  to  preach  the  Gospel  "in  an 
extensive  manner. ' '  He  gave  much  thought  to  his  determination 
of  the  religious  group  with  which  he  should  be  affiliated.2  As  he 
related  it,  he  would  not  unite  with  the  Methodists  because  he 
could  not  subscribe  to  their  discipline,  or  the  authority  of  the 
bishop.  Nor  the  Free  Will  Baptists  because  their  preacher 
would  not  baptize  him  except  into  that  church,  and  their  articles 
of  faith  also  he  could  not  fully  accept.    Nor  the  Presbyterians 

46 


JOSEPH    THOMAS.    THE    "WHITE    PILGRIM "  47 

because  their  confession  of  faith  appeared  not  to  coincide  with 
what  he  had  learned  from  the  New  Testament,  and  he  dissented 
also  from  their  requirement  to  study  "divinity"  in  a  Theolog- 
ical School.  He  then  sought  a  preacher  of  the  ' '  Christian  Con- 
nection," or  the  Christian  Church,  that  is,  the  southern  branch, 
under  the  leadership  of  James  0  'Kelly.  Thomas  rejoiced  to  find 
fellowship  with  these  people  who  were  so  democratic  in  their 
church  polity;  who  "had  no  rules  but  the  Scriptures,"  and  who 
had  only  "the  Lord  Jesus  for  their  Head  and  Ruler." 

In  October,  1807,  he  attended  an  important  Christian  minis- 
ters' meeting  in  Raleigh,  North  Carolina.  0 'Kelly  was  present, 
whom  Thomas  sought  demanding  baptism  by  immersion.  To 
this  0  'Kelly  demurred  and  persuaded  Thomas  to  affusion  as  the 
mode,3  explaining  that  "as  he  had  become  a  member  by  having 
the  spirit  poured  upon  him,  this  was  the  best  represented  in  bap- 
tism by  pouring."  Thomas  said:  "As  a  man  of  his  maturity 
both  in  age  and  mind,  I  thought  he  knew  better  than  I,  and  at 
that  time  received  his  definition  as  being  correct.  *  *  *  On 
Sunday,  24th  (October  24,  1807),  I  received  water  poured  on 
me  by  James  0 'Kelly  for  baptism,  and  thought  it  was  right 
and  sufficient  for  me  for  some  time;  not  knowing  I  was  con- 
vinced by  man  and  not  by  the  spirit  of  truth."  It  is  said  that 
Thomas  stipulated  that  a  tubful  of  water  should  be  poured 
upon  him. 

Several  other  young  preachers  came  into  the  communion  at 
this  Raleigh  Convention  of  which  Thomas  said:  "I  (with 
them)  was  here  received  into  full  fellowship  with  a  people  pro- 
fessing religion  but  not  as  a  member  of  a  particular  sect  or 
party  to  be  debarred  by  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of 
men  from  uniting  with  all  the  children  of  God. ' '  After  a  visit 
to  central  Kentucky  which  provoked  his  further  thought  on  the 
form  of  baptism,  Thomas  was  immersed  in  the  Schuylkill  River 
near  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  in  July,  1811,  by  Frederick 
Plummer,  who  was  of  the  Eastern  branch  of  the  Christian  Con- 
nection, and  consistently  practiced  immersion.  Thomas  said: 
"I  desired  him  to  baptize  me  in  that  way,  if  his  baptizing  me 
would  not  attach  me  to  his  party.  He  told  me  he  would  baptize 
me  as  a  member  of  Christ's  Church,  and  not  as  a  member  of  any 
party  among  men."  Immediately  after  this  baptism,  Thomas 
was  ordained  to  the  ministry,  July  9,  1811. 


48  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

There  was  much  strife,  in  the  days  of  Thomas,  among  the 
Christian  Connection  as  to  the  correct  form  of  baptism.  Joseph 
Thomas  was  excluded  from  their  Eastern  Virginia  Conference 
at  its  seventh  session  in  November,  1821.4 

Joseph  Thomas  was  called  "the  White  Pilgrim"  because  dur- 
ing much  of  his  ministry  he  wore  a  long  white  robe,  and  was 
eternally  restless  in  his  evangelizing  movements  in  a  number  of 
States,  from  the  Carolinas  to  New  York,  from  Delaware  to  Ken- 
tucky, and  from  Ohio  to  Alabama.  In  personal  appearance  he 
was  described5  as  "tall,  straight  as  an  Indian,  with  fair  skin, 
gray  eyes,  beautiful  nose  and  mouth,  a  lofty  forehead,  long 
chestnut  locks,  parted  over  the  middle  of  the  head,  and  falling 
upon  his  shoulders."  There  was  a  wild  and  sublime  eloquence 
in  his  sermons,  colored  by  his  poetic  temperament,  which  deeply 
impressed  his  hearers. 

He  preached  much  in  North  Carolina.  Some  of  his  notable 
experiences  were  in  the  communities  about  Edenton,  Tarboro, 
New  Bern,  Fayetteville  and  Raleigh.  When  so  persecuted  in 
his  home  community  at  old  Hawfields,  that  he  could  not  preach 
in  any  church  building,  he  erected  "stands"  upon  his  own  fifty 
acres  of  land,  and  here  the  crowds  came  to  hear  the  outpourings 
of  his  earnest  soul.  He  had  started  in  the  ministry  so  early  in 
life — at  sixteen  years  of  age — that  many  called  him  "the  boy 
preacher."  He  preached  in  Salem,  the  old  Moravian  town.  He 
delighted  to  preach  in  Surry  County  whose  people  he  greatly 
admired,  and  who  received  him  so  kindly.  He  called  himself, 
' '  a  disciple  of  Christ " ;  he  thoroughly  believed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures as  the  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice  for  the  Chris- 
tian; he  would  have  only  immersion  for  baptism;  he  practiced 
open  communion,  also  feet-washing  as  a  religious  ceremony,  but 
so  did  many  of  the  early  Disciples  of  Christ  in  North  Carolina; 
he  denounced  the  denominational  spirit  with  the  fire  of  a 
prophet ;  and  exalted  the  Lordship  of  Jesus,  devoting  his  life  to 
these  ideals. 

He  was  an  ardent  fellow-worker  with  Barton  W.  Stone.  He 
wrote  an  interpretation  of  the  famous  Cane  Ridge  revival6  with 
the  understanding  and  power  of  real  vision.  The  Kentuckians 
ministered  to  him  more  largely  of  their  substance  than  was  his 
usual  fare,  and  he  freely  expressed  his  gratitude. 

Joseph  Thomas  suffered  much.     His  father's  good  fortune 


General  William  Clark.   1790-1859 


John  Patrick  Dunn,   1792-1859 


JOSEPH    THOMAS,    THE    " WHITE    PILGRIM"  49 

melted  before  British  wrath  in  the  American  Revolution.  As 
the  youngest  of  nine  children  he  drifted  from  pillar  to  post. 
His  youth  was  pinched  with  poverty  and  to  this  was  added  the 
intense  physical  suffering  of  "white  swelling"  in  knee  and  thigh, 
completely  prostrating  him  for  a  period.  As  a  preacher  of  a 
misunderstood  and  despised  communion  he  must  fare  as  best  he 
could.  Once  for  a  period  of  eight  months  he  traveled  and 
preached  continuously,  and  received  but  one  dollar  for  all  his 
services.  A  Methodist  circuit  rider  opposed  him  so  that  he  was 
forced  to  leave  the  church  building  and  preach  in  a  school- 
house.  The  circuit  rider  said  that  the  Christians  were  the 
"trash  of  hell,  and  their  sentiments  brought  from  the  bottom- 
less pit."  Others  treated  him  with  treachery  and  contempt. 
By  the  Presbyterians  he  was  ' '  despised  and  rejected. ' '  In  Fred- 
erick County,  Virginia,  he  was  called  "crazy  Thomas."  The 
scandalous  stories  about  him  arising  from  frenzied  opposition 
were  legion.  A  thieving  murderer  hounded  his  lonely  trail  in 
the  Ohio  wilderness,  to  be  baffled  only  by  a  bold  expedient.  The 
evangelist  dismounted,  turned  and  faced  him  in  friendly  aspect, 
disclosing  the  character  and  conditions  of  his  mission.  A  magis- 
trate bound  him  over  to  a  North  Carolina  court  and  he  went  to 
Hillsboro  for  trial.  It  was  because  he  had  written  a  pamphlet 
in  defense  of  his  faith  and  it  was  charged  that  he  had  descended 
to  an  unjust  personal  attack.  The  accuser  had  coveted  a  cash 
consideration  for  his  future  silence.  This  was  settled  by  agree- 
ment out  of  court  with  no  cash  indemnity,  as  Thomas  was  ' '  more 
sinned  against  than  sinning."  As  a  kind  of  climax  he  lost  com- 
pletely his  little  North  Carolina  property  by  the  perfidy  of  his 
own  brother.  The  following  summary  of  an  evangelizing  trip 
he  made  in  the  region  of  the  valley  of  Virginia,  in  1815,  was 
typical : 

In  this  journey  I  was  about  ninety-two  days,  walked  upwards  of  eleven 
hundred  miles,  preached  ninety-seven  times,  suffered  much  hunger  and 
thirst,  endured  many  HARD  TRIALS  and  difficulties,  (was)  delivered  from 
some  imminent  dangers,  had  much  persecution,  SAW  SIGNS  AND  WON- 
DERS (they  were  so  to  me)  attend  the  Gospel,  saw  some  convinced  of  their 
errors,  and  of  the  dangerous  nature  of  false  religion,  some  of  their  sins, 
and  many  built  up  in  the  most  holy  faith,  and  felt  continual  and  inexpres- 
sible joy  in  my  soul. 


50  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

It  is  to  be  admitted  that  not  in  North  Carolina  did  the  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ  as  a  particular  communion  receive  immediately 
their  fruitage  from  the  labors  of  this  pioneer.  While  preaching 
in  Virginia  not  far  from  Petersburg,  in  the  summer  of  1809,  he 
saved  a  sixteen-year-old  girl  from  drowning,  rescuing  her  at 
serious  risk  of  his  own  life,  from  a  swift  and  deep  river,  when 
her  frightened  horse  had  plunged  from  a  bridge.7  If  there  had 
been  a  Carnegie  Hero  Commission  then  Joseph  Thomas  would 
have  received  a  medal.  When  the  girl  had  revived  she  was  so 
deeply  impressed  by  this  experience  that  she  became  a  Christian 
at  once.  She  led  her  family  into  the  church.  This  girl  was  the 
youngest  sister  of  Zachariah  Holloway.  Thomas  not  only  con- 
verted Zachariah  Holloway  but  inspired  him  to  preach.  Hollo- 
way  went  to  Georgia  and  helped  to  lay  the  foundations  in  that 
State  of  the  first  work  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  at  old  Antioch, 
the  "Mother  Church,"  sixteen  miles  from  Athens.8  Thomas 
said  that  Holloway  "was  possessed  of  that  humility  and  true 
piety  and  that  earnest  engagedness  in  the  cause  of  his  great 
Master  which  cannot  fail  to  render  him  acceptable  and  useful." 

Thomas  found  Robert  Ferguson  at  Philadelphia  in  1811  and 
took  him  as  a  Timothy  in  his  long  travels.  Thomas  thus  de- 
scribed him : 

This  young  man  (F)  is  now  about  twenty  years  of  age,  has  but  little 
education,  can  read,  but  cannot  write;  yet  he  is  possessed  of  a  good  genius 
and  natural  talents,  his  temper,  agreeable,  and  his  mind  sound  and  firm. 
His  understanding  and  knowledge  in  the  scriptures  extensive  and  correct, 
and  needs  only  experience  and  practice  in  speaking  to  make  him  admirable 
and  useful.  He  seems  to  be  purely  influenced  by  the  spirit  and  love  of 
God.  And  while  he  manifests  great  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  he  is 
noticed  and  loved  for  his  humility.  I  have  promised  him  all  the  aid  I  can 
give  him,  in  every  way,  till  HE  CAN  WALK  ALONE  or,  as  long  as  he  may 
feel  inclined  to  travel  with  me;  and  shall  rejoice  in  his  improvement  and 
praise  the  Lord  in  his  usefulness. 

Some  months  later  he  had  him  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  as 
Thomas  had  married  Christiana  Rittenour  at  Winchester,  Vir- 
ginia, April  5,  1812,  and  had  located  there.  He  then  said  of 
Ferguson :  ' '  By  this  time  his  improvement  was  beyond  the  high- 
est expectations.  He  had  now  become  not  only  fluent  but  pop- 
ular in  preaching.  He  could  now  also  write  a  good  and  legible 
hand,  with  having  obtained  a  considerable  knowledge  of  several 
useful  sciences.    His  manners  are  now  acceptable  and  pleasing. 


JOSEPH    THOMAS,    THE    " WHITE    PILGRIM"  51 

He  is  a  young  man  of  genuine  piety  and  holy  zeal  for  the  good 
of  souls.  He  bids  fair  for  a  good,  great  and  excellent  man." 
In  1821  Ferguson  located  at  Strasburg  in  the  Valley  of  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  labored  for  twenty-five  years.  About  1835  he 
became  conscious  that  his  work  was  closely  allied  to  that  of  Alex- 
ander Campbell,  and  he  joined  heartily  with  the  larger  Move- 
ment. The  3,000  Disciples  of  Christ  in  that  valley  today  owe 
much  to  Robert  Ferguson,  the  pioneer  Disciple  of  a  century  ago. 

Perhaps  the  most  far-reaching  results  for  the  Disciples 
wrought  by  Joseph  Thomas  were  in  Southwest  Virginia,  where 
he  spent  much  of  his  life.  Major  0.  Johnston  of  New  River  in 
Giles  County,  took  Thomas  when  he  was  only  twelve  years  of 
age,  boarded  him  without  charge,  and  sent  him  to  school  where 
his  improvement  was  rapid.  This  gift  to  a  poor  boy  was  re- 
turned when  Thomas  came  back  in  later  years  as  the  spiritual 
leader  in  the  community.  W.  G.  Johnston,  formerly  pastor  of 
Kinston,  North  Carolina,  Disciples,  is  a  great-great-grandson  of 
this  Major  Johnston,  the  true  friend  of  Joseph  Thomas. 

In  August,  1815,  Thomas  preached  in  the  home  of  Thomas 
Abbott,  great-grandfather  of  B.  A.  Abbott,  the  present  editor 
of  The  Christian-Evangelist  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  He  had 
known  Thomas  Abbott  as  a  neighbor  in  the  old  home  community 
on  Haw  River  in  North  Carolina.9  From  his  preaching  came  the 
present  Churches  of  Christ  in  the  region  of  Craigs  Creek,  Vir- 
ginia, and  indeed  throughout  all  of  Southwest  Virginia.  Thus 
the  name  of  Joseph  Thomas  is  highly  esteemed  today  in  the  his- 
torical associations  of  Southwest  Virginia  Disciples.  He  con- 
verted Landon  Duncan,  tax  assessor  of  Giles  County,  Virginia, 
who  in  turn  converted  Dr.  Chester  Bullard,  the  most  notable 
of  Disciple  pioneers  in  that  region.  Several  ministers  of  North 
Carolina  Disciples  of  Christ  may  trace  their  spiritual  lineage 
directly  back  to  Joseph  Thomas  through  Dr.  Chester  Bullard. 

A  daughter  of  Joseph  Thomas  married  John  0  'Kane,10  a  lead- 
ing pioneer  preacher  of  the  Disciples  in  Indiana.  Alexander 
Campbell  traveled  with  O'Kane  and  regarded  him  highly. 
O'Kane  published  a  Disciple  paper  in  Connersville,  Indiana, 
called  the  Christian  Casket.11  He  built  the  first  church  of  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ  in  Indianapolis,  in  June,  1833.  In  1849,  O'Kane 
was  a  leading  spirit  in  the  formation  of  the  American  Christian 
Missionary  Society.    He  and  John  T.  Johnson,  and  three  others 


52  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

constituted  the  committee  that  framed  its  constitution.  He 
raised  $75,000.00  to  start  Butler  College,  at  Indianapolis. 
Joseph  Thomas  must  therefore  have  known  something  of  Camp- 
bell's teaching  in  the  "Restoration  Movement"  through  this 
son-in-law.  Thomas  did  not,  however,  unite  with  it,  "being 
greatly  absorbed  with  religious  frames  and  feelings,  and  con- 
tinued the  mourning  bench  system." 

In  1828  Thomas  lived  in  central  Ohio,  and  was  visited  by 
some  pioneer  preachers  of  the  Disciples,  namely :  Nathan  J. 
Mitchell  of  Pennsylvania,  James  Hughes  of  Kentucky,  and 
Samuel  Rogers,  then  living  in  southern  Ohio.  Mitchell  said  of 
this  visit:12  "We  stopped  with  the  'White  Pilgrim,'  Elder  Jo- 
seph Thomas.  He  received  the  cognomen  'White  Pilgrim'  from 
the  circumstance  of  his  wearing  white  apparel  both  summer  and 
winter.  He  was  something  of  a  poet,  and  read  to  us  quite  a 
number  of  his  productions.  After  reading  a  poem,  he  would  sit 
back  and  remark,  'That  is  pretty  good  poetry  for  long-haired 
Joseph  Thomas  to  make,  is  it  not?'  He  wore  his  hair  long, 
combed  back,  and  reaching  down  upon  his  shoulders." 

Had  Thomas  lived  at  a  later  date,  with  better  opportunities, 
it  is  altogether  probable  that  he  would  have  been  consciously 
identified  with  the  "Movement"  of  the  Campbells.  As  it  is,  he 
is  outstanding  as  a  forerunner  of  that  "Movement,"  particularly 
in  the  South  Atlantic  States. 

From  his  home  in  Ohio  Thomas  itinerated  through  New  York, 
and  was  infected  with  smallpox  in  New  York  City  from  which 
he  died  April  9,  1835.  He  was  buried  at  Johnsonburg,  Warren 
County,  New  Jersey. 

The  movement  of  Barton  W.  Stone  was  nobly  united  with 
that  of  Alexander  Campbell  in  Kentucky  in  1832.  The  leaders 
labored  indefatigably  and  with  great  success  to  perfect  the 
Union.  In  Georgia  and  Northern  Virginia  the  merger  was  ef- 
fected to  some  degree.  However,  three  very  considerable  rem- 
nants of  the  Christian  Connection  never  realized  this  union  of 
"Christians"  and  "Disciples,"  namely:  (1)  a  large  group  of 
Stone's  followers  in  Ohio  and  Indiana,  (2)  the  Eastern  branch 
of  the  Christian  Church  in  New  England  led  by  Abner  Jones 
and  Elias  Smith,  and  (3)  the  Southern  branch  in  central  North 
Carolina  and  southeastern  Virginia,  led  by  James  O 'Kelly. 


JOSEPH    THOMAS,    THE    li  WHITE    PILGRIM"  53 

The  few  apparently  irreconcilable  differences  should  have  been 
solved  under  wise  leadership  in  North  Carolina.  Then  a  single 
communion  with  strength  at  least  doubled,  would  have  emerged 
in  this  area,  and  a  great  contribution  to  Christian  union  would 
have  been  achieved. 

Notes 

1"Life  of  Joseph  Thomas,"  autobiography,  page  3.  2Ibid.,  pages  28,  29. 
3Ibid.,  pages  34,  35.  ^''L-ife  of  James  O'Kelly,"  by  W.  E.  MacClenny,  pages 
166,  >167.  5"The  Plea  and  the  Pioneers  in  Virginia,"  by  F.  A.  Hodge,  page 
122.  G"Life  of  Joseph  Thomas,"  pages  183-1S6.  7Ibid.,  pages  81,  92,  93. 
""Antioch,  the  Mother  Church  of  the  Disciples  in  Georgia,"  page  10.  9"Lilfe 
of  Joseph  Thomas,"  page  27S.  "Memoirs  of  Alexander  Campbell,"  by 
Robert  Richardson,  page  474.  u"Life  and  Times  of  Elder  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin," page  143.     12"The  Pioneer  Preacher,"  by  Nathan  J.   Mitchell. 


PAKTII 
THEMES  OF  GENERAL  HISTORY 


PART  II— THEMES   OF   GENERAL  HISTORY 

Chapter  V 

VISITS  OF  THE  CAMPBELLS 

Thomas  Campbell,  of  Brush  Run,  Pennsylvania,  wrote  and 
published  his  Declaration  and  Address  in  1809.  This  was  a 
clarion  call  to  all  Christians  in  the  various  communions  of  the 
day,  particularly  in  America,  to  strive  for  a  brotherly  union 
under  the  Lordship  of  Christ,  and  the  sheer  sufficiency  of  the 
Scriptures  as  an  adequate  guide.  His  son,  Alexander  Campbell, 
was  a  newly  arrived  immigrant  from  Scotland.  He  forthwith 
became  an  ardent  champion  of  the  ideals  expressed  by  his  fa- 
ther. These  ideals  had  been  forming  in  his  own  mind  back  in 
Scotland  in  the  halls  of  her  greatest  University  as  he  faced  cur- 
rent problems  of  religion,  in  his  preparation  for  life  service. 

By  1833,  the  Movement  inaugurated  by  the  Declaration  and 
Address,  had  made  such  progress  in  the  Middle  West,  as  to 
attract  attention  throughout  the  Union.  The  Christian  Baptist 
had  started  in  1823,  with  Alexander  Campbell  as  editor.  It  is 
apparent  that  some  Baptists  in  North  Carolina  read  this  monthly 
journal.  The  earliest  writing  from  this  State  for  its  columns 
was  in  September,  1826. x  When  the  Millennial  Harbinger  super- 
seded the  Christian  Baptist  in  1830,  there  was  a  slow  but  con- 
stant increase  of  subscribers  from  North  Carolina.  Thus  the 
Campbells  became  acquainted  with  an  incipient  constituency  in 
this  State. 

A  Kentuckian  advocating  the  reform  at  this  period  was  Dr. 
B.  F.  Hall.  He  was  an  evangelist  and  a  dentist.  R.  B.  C.  How- 
ell, his  leading  Baptist  opponent  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  called 
him  ' '  a  strolling  Dentist  of  the  name  of  Hall. '  '2  Dr.  Hall  began 
to  preach  in  1823.  He  evangelized  mostly  at  Camp  Meetings  in 
southern  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  northern  Alabama.  What 
seriously  troubled  him  was  that  he  could  not  tell  sinners  def- 
initely what  to  do  to  be  saved.  He  often  left  them  with  their 
souls  unsatisfied  as  to  the  remission  of  their  sins.     He  led  in 

57 


58  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

some  of  the  most  fervent  revivals  of  the  day,  but  was  grieved 
with  their  barren  results  as  compared  with  New  Testament  evan- 
gelistic precedents.  Still  in  agony  over  this  problem  he  returned 
from  Alabama  to  Kentucky  in  1826. 3  On  the  way  he  read  for 
the  first  time  the  Campbell-McCalla  debate.  Of  this  he  said: 
' '  The  light  flashed  upon  my  mind,  and  for  the  first  time  in  my 
life  I  saw  that  baptism  was  to  be  administered  to  penitent  be- 
lievers for  an  evidence  to  them  of  the  remission  of  their  past 
sins."  He  then  preached  this  faith  boldly  and  successfully.  It 
was  a  new  and  revolutionary  thought  to  many  of  his  contempo- 
raries. 

In  the  summer  of  1833  the  pulpit  of  the  Baptist  church  at 
Edenton,  North  Carolina,  was  vacant.  Thomas  Meredith  had 
declined  a  call  to  continue  as  minister  but  retained  his  member- 
ship there.  At  this  juncture,  Dr.  Hall  came  to  Edenton  from 
Norfolk,  Virginia,  where  he  had  been  evangelizing.  Meredith 
concurred  with  the  congregation  in  inviting  Hall  to  preach  in 
the  Baptist  church.  As  an  aftermath,  Meredith  severely  criti- 
cised Hall's  preaching  in  the  July  issue  of  the  Baptist  Inter- 
preter, which  he  edited,  and  which  was  printed  at  Edenton.  It 
was  the  first  State  paper  of  the  Baptists  and  was  in  its  first 
year.  He  branded  Dr.  Hall  as  a  travelling  schismatic  with  gum- 
shoe methods.  The  weight  of  his  censure,  however,  was  against 
the  majority  of  the  local  membership  which  he  said  seemingly 
had  accepted  Hall's  ideas.  As  to  the  substance  of  these  ideas 
Meredith  made  the  following  eight  allegations:4 

1.  That  our  fathers  in  many  important  particulars  have  been  entirely 
mistaken. 

2.  That  our  ministers  in  several  respects  are  ' '  darkening  counsel  by 
words  without  knowledge. ' ' 

3.  That  some  of  the  distinctive  principles  of  the  Baptist  church  are 
entirely  unauthorized  by  the  Scriptures. 

4.  That  all  Articles  of  Faith,  Church  Covenants,  Church  Constitutions, 
Rules  of  Decorum,  System  of  Discipline,  etc.,  are  unnecessary,  unscrip- 
tural  and  hurtful. 

5.  That  a  few  officious  individuals  may  violate  the  standing  and  funda- 
mental regulations  of  a  church  without  asking  questions  and  without  incur- 
ring censure. 

6.  That  the  practice  of  receiving  members  into  the  church  on  the  ground 
of  a  religious  experience  is  unauthorized  and  ought  to  be  abolished. 

7.  That,  in  order  to  the  admission  of  members,  no  act  of  the  church  is 
necessary  or  proper. 


VISITS    OF    THE    CAMPBELLS  59 

8.  That  any  person  is  properly  qualified  for  baptism  who  will  say  that 
he  believes  in  Christ,  loves  God,  and  is  desirous  for  the  ordinance. 

Meredith  further  alleged  that  "by  a  special  action  of  the 
church  they  have  given  their  sanction  to  preaching  in  which  we 
understand,  the  doctrine  of  election,  regeneration  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  justification  by  faith  were  discarded." 

To  this  field  at  Edenton  Thomas  Campbell  came  in  November, 
1833.  He  left  his  home  at  Bethany,  the  preceding  October  4,5 
in  company  with  Alexander  Campbell,  Dr.  B.  F.  Hall  and  three 
others.  It  was  a  horse-back  excursion  across  the  Alleghanies 
to  the  Virginia  "Tide  water."  It  was  a  day  shortly  before  the 
locomotive.  The  Dover  Baptist  Association  in  Eastern  Virginia 
had  excluded  those  sympathetic  with  the  reforming  ideals  ex- 
pressed by  the  Campbells.  Forced  to  form  a  separate  commun- 
ion they  needed  the  inspiration  that  comes  only  from  personal 
contact  with  great  leaders.  So  this  group  on  horseback  visited 
some  strategic  fields  in  this  region  before  attending  the  general 
meeting  at  Richmond,  October  24-28,  at  the  "Old  Sycamore 
Church." 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  Richmond  conference,  Thomas  Camp- 
bell, accompanied  by  Dr.  B.  F.  Hall,  rode  directly  to  Edenton. 
Dr.  Hall  had  been  invited  by  the  Edenton  Baptist  Church  to 
return  and  preach  for  them.  This  was  over  the  protest  however 
of  Thomas  Meredith.  Their  first  Sunday  in  Edenton  was  on 
November  3rd.  In  advertising  their  first  service,  Thomas  Camp- 
bell issued  a  proclamation  as  follows  :6 

To  the  Religious  Public  in  Edenton  and  its  vicinities: — Thomas  Camp- 
bell, Minister  of  the  gospel,  respectfully  presents  Christian  salutation.  Begs 
leave  to  inform  them  that  on  next  Sunday  afternoon,  at  half  past  two 
o'clock,  in  the  Baptist  meeting  house  of  this  place,  he  intends  addressing 
them  on  the  All  Important  Subject  of  the  Religious  Reformation,  which  he 
with  a  goodly  number  of  his  contemporaries,  has  been  humbly  and  earnestly 
recommending  to  the  reception  of  the  Christian  public,  for  upwards  of 
twenty  years.  The  object  of  the  proposed  address  will  be,  to  give  a  clear, 
precise  and  definite  statement  of  the  principles,  reason,  and  object  of  the 
proposed  Reformation,  so  that  all  concerned  may  determine  with  certainty 
whether  they  ought  to  embrace  or  reject. 

Let  us  take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  North  Carolina  of  that 
day.  In  round  numbers  her  population  was  three-quarters  of 
a  million,  of  which  about  a  ha  If -million  were  white,  a  quarter- 
million  slaves,  and  less  than  twenty  thousand  free  negroes.7    The 


60  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

present  Capitol  at  Raleigh  was  being  planned  at  an  expense  of 
a  half  million  dollars,  which  was  considered  an  enormous  cost. 
David  Lowry  Swain  was  Governor  with  a  salary  of  $2,000.00  per 
year.  The  State  was  astir  with  projects  of  "internal  improve- 
ment." The  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  Railroad  Company,  incor- 
porated in  1832,  with  a  capital  of  two  million  dollars,  was  to  run 
from  Wilmington  to  Salisbury,  and  to  the  Catawba  River;  also 
the  Central  Railroad  Company  with  same  amount  of  capital 
was  to  connect  western  North  Carolina  with  the  northeastern 
seaboard.  The  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad  was  being  pro- 
moted. It  was  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  and  a  half  miles  in 
length,  when  built  (1840),  and  had  then  the  world's  long  dis- 
tance record  for  one  continuous  line  in  operation. 

Educationally  the  State  was  waking  up.  The  State  Univer- 
sity had  been  going  for  forty  years  and  had  trained  a  small  but 
worthy  group  of  leaders.  Wake  Forest  College  was  being 
started.  Trinity,  Davidson  and  Guilford  were  soon  to  follow. 
The  North  Carolina  Institute,  an  association  of  men  of  vision, 
with  headquarters  at  Chapel  Hill,  had  just  been  formed  to  pro- 
mote the  general  cause  of  education. 

Religiously  the  State  appears  not  to  have  kept  pace  with  other 
progress.  Of  the  half  million  white  people  in  the  State,  only 
about  forty  thousand  were  members  of  any  church.  The  Bap- 
tists had  15,530  members,  the  Methodists,  12,611 ;  together  they 
had  nearly  three-quarters  of  the  entire  church  membership. 
Presbyterians  numbered  six  thousand;  the  Lutherans  and  United 
Brethren  (Moravians)  less  than  two  thousand  each.  The  Epis- 
copalians had  eleven  ministers,  and  the  Quakers  a  number  of 
societies.  Of  Roman  Catholics  there  were  almost  none;  the 
Papal  Hierarchy  finding  in  North  Carolina  their  most  extensive 
bit  of  open  mission  territory  in  America.  There  were  43  Bible 
Societies  in  the  State  auxiliary  to  the  American  Bible  Society. 
There  were  a  number  of  Tract  Societies  with  depositories  at 
Charlotte,  Salisbury,  Milton,  Oxford,  and  Raleigh.  There  were 
but  fifty  Bible  Schools  in  the  State,  with  enrollment  of  2500, 
having  1000  teachers.  The  average  Bible  School  class  seems  to 
have  been  very  small.  Intoxicants  were  cheap  and  distilleries 
numerous.  Yet  the  temperance  cause  was  reported  as  "pros- 
perous." Within  the  limits  of  the  Orange  Presbytery  there 
were  3500  members  of  local  temperance  societies. 


VISITS    OF    THE    CAMPBELLS  61 

Into  such  a  State  came  Thomas  Campbell  with  his  plea  for 
the  "restoration"  of  the  "ancient  order,"  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  He  had  come  to  one  of  her  strategic  centers,  one  of  the 
oldest  and  largest  of  her  cities,  home  of  the  old  provincial  Gov- 
ernors, and  in  due  course  a  hotbed  of  the  American  Revolution. 
Her  "Tea  Party"  had  preceded  that  at  Boston.  It  was  the 
metropolis  of  the  populous  northeastern  section  of  the  State.  It 
was  the  home  of  Martin  Ross  in  his  mature  years  when  his  life 
and  influence  were  clearly  remoulding  the  Baptists  for  a  fellow- 
ship of  progress  and  growth. 

At  Edenton,  Campbell  and  Hall  found  three  good  friends  in 
Thomas  Waff,  Joseph  Manning,  and  Henry  A.  Skinner.  Man- 
ning died  before  Campbell  left  the  State.  Waff  was  ordained 
to  the  Baptist  ministry  nine  years  later.8  For  fourteen  years 
he  served  and  "gathered  many  sheaves  into  the  garner,"  dying 
in  1856  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine.  By  1842  the  Chowan  Associa- 
tion Baptists,  whom  he  served,  had  grown  so  liberal  toward  the 
Disciples,  that  his  strong  Disciple  reservations  occasioned  no 
opposition  from  his  parishioners.  Waff  was  visited  by  Dr.  John 
Tomline  Walsh  in  1854.  He  told  Walsh  all  about  Campbell's 
visit.  Waff  and  Walsh  were  colleagues.  Walsh  said,9  "Elder 
Thomas  Waff,  to  the  day  of  his  death  was  as  uncompromising  in 
the  advocacy  of  the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  as  we  are." 
Walsh  further  said,  "There  are  hundreds  of  ministers  in  the 
Baptists  churches  who  are  preaching  the  views  held  by  the  Dis- 
ciples."  Skinner  lived  in  the  country  fifteen  or  twenty  miles 
from  Edenton.  He  had  been  "called  to  account"  by  Meredith 
and  the  church  for  attending  a  circus.10  This  developed  a  bad 
feeling  between  them.  Meredith  had  also  taken  Manning  to  task 
"respecting  his  faults."  As  to  Waff,  Meredith  said  he  "had 
expostulated  with  him  almost  times  without  number"  about  his 
alleged  delinquencies.  In  calling  Meredith  for  the  ninth  year, 
they  felt  that  contributions  must  be  increased  to  make  up  his 
salary  of  $370.00  per  year.  When  the  canvassers  came  to  Skin- 
ner, Manning  and  Waff,  they  would  not  increase  their  contribu- 
tions. Meredith,  by  his  own  confession,  because  of  his  feeling 
toward  these  three  men,  declined  the  call. 

For  nearly  three  months  Campbell  found  a  hospitable  home 
with  Thomas  Waff.  On  Saturday,  November  9th,  the  local 
church  had  their  regular  monthly  conference.    Thomas  Meredith 


62  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

was  absent,  due  to  his  attendance  at  the  Baptist  State  Conven- 
tion at  Cartledge  Creek  in  Kichmond  County.  The  church  con- 
sidered what  Meredith  had  published  in  the  Interpreter  in  July ; 
that  is,  the  eight  allegations  against  Hall's  preaching  and  Mere- 
dith's other  interpretations  of  it.  They  resolved  that  it  was  a 
"malicious  libel,"  and  suggested  that  a  committee  of  five  be 
jointly  arranged  to  investigate  further  and  conciliate  the  parties. 
The  entire  church  voted  for  this  with  the  exception  of  three  or 
four.  The  membership  then  was  about  one  hundred  and  sixty. 
Dr.  Hall  could  remain  with  Thomas  Campbell  at  Edenton  but 
two  Lord's  days.  He  left  about  November  14th  to  rejoin  Alex- 
ander Campbell  at  Norfolk,  to  accompany  him  on  his  mission  to 
Baltimore,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia.  On  November  16th 
Thomas  Meredith  arrived  home  from  the  State  Convention. 
When  he  learned  what  had  taken  place,  he  was  very  indignant 
and  deliberately  set  about  bringing  the  matter  to  a  decisive  issue. 
He  called  a  conference  of  church  members  for  Tuesday  night, 
the  19th.     The  following  is  a  minute  of  the  proceedings  i11 

The  brethren  being  met,  without  knowing  the  object  of  the  meeting, 
brother  Meredith  engaged  in  prayer,  and  then  proceeded  to  state,  that  in 
consequence  of  certain  proceedings  of  the  church,  during  his  absence,  he 
had  called  the  members  of  the  church  together,  to  inform  them,  that  having 
admitted  certain  ministers  of  the  gospel,  whom  he  called  reformers,  into 
their  pulpit,  contrary  to  his  views,  and  also  of  some  of  the  members;  and 
that  this  church  had  departed  from  the  principles  of  the  regular  Baptists, 
and  was  become  a  Campbellite  church; — that  he  therefore  rent  himself 
from  this  church,  and  would  join  some  other; — that  if  none  would  receive 
him,  he  would  stand  alone; — then  made  a  proposition  for  all  who  were 
unwilling  to  hear  said  ministers  preach  to  declare  the  same  by  rising; — 
when  some  of  the  brethren  (who  considered  the  proposition  unauthorized, 
as  coming  from  one  who  had  ' '  rent  himself  from  the  church, ' '  conse- 
quently not  a  member),  arose  to  express  their  opinion,  they  were  refused 
a  hearing,  and  brother  Meredith,  requested  all  in  favor  of  his  proceedings 
to  remove  to  one  side  of  the  house,  as  he  had  resolutions  to  propose  for 
their  adoption;  when  one  of  the  brethren  arose  again  to  make  some  re- 
marks, disapproving  of  the  proceedings,  he  was  refused  a  hearing.  Brother 
Meredith  then  proposed  removing  to  his  own  house,  and  was  answered  he 
had  better  do  so,  as  being  a  more  suitable  place,  which  he  accordingly  did, 
saying,  "They  have  the  house,  let  them  keep  it";  and  so  retired  with  a 
part  of  the  persons  who  favored  his  proposals;  thus  the  meeting  terminated. 

Thomas  Campbell  was  now  past  seventy  years  of  age.  He  was 
emphatically  a  lover  of  peace.  He  was  possessed  with  a  passion 
for  Christian  union.    He  was  a  guileless  soul.    It  is  to  be  remem- 


VISITS    OF    THE    CAMPBELLS  63 

bered  that  this  is  the  same  Thomas  Campbell  who  asked  that  his 
"Christian  Association"  be  received  by  the  Pittsburg  Presby- 
terian Synod  after  he  had  given  to  the  world  his  Declaration  and 
Address.  Being  without  guile  he  had  not  thought  that  Mere- 
dith would  precipitate  a  division;  in  short,  stampede  these  peo- 
ple by  a  powerful  polemic,  portraying  him  and  Hall  as  inter- 
lopers and  heretics.  He  had  no  heart  for  a  feud  with  Meredith. 
His  soul  was  too  refined,  too  pure,  too  gentle.  If  his  son,  Alex- 
ander Campbell,  had  been  in  this  arena,  there  would  be  a  dif- 
ferent story.  Forensically,  Meredith  won  the  day.  The  few 
Disciples  remaining  continued  under  the  Baptist  name,  until 
Meredith  himself  became  liberal,  and  they  could  receive  any 
representative  Disciple  minister  into  any  pulpit  of  the  Chowan 
Association  without  censure.  In  fact,  the  very  lack  of  any  overt 
opposition  to  Disciples  in  this  Association  in  later  days  was  a 
piece  of  consummate  tact  on  the  part  of  the  Baptists,  which 
tended  greatly  to  maintain  their  churches  intact  for  the  Baptist 
Cause. 

Thomas  Meredith's  state  of  mind  at  this  time  may  be  under- 
stood by  the  following  admission  which  he  made  in  a  personal 
polemic  against  the  Disciples  published  in  his  journal : 

What  these  people  really  believed,  I  knew  not,  I  inquired  not,  I  cared 
not.  I  found  the  enemy  in  possession,  I  found  them  in  his  ranks,  I  was 
convinced  that  they  had  placed  themselves  there  voluntarily,  and  I  wanted 
to  know  no  more.  They  were  now  to  all  intents  and  purposes  hostile  to  the 
Regular  Baptist  church,  and  I  proceeded  to  treat  them  accordingly;  not 
by  contending  with  them,  but  by  separating  from  them,  by  withdrawing 
the  church  from  under  their  usurpation,  and  by  leaving  them  to  stand  alone, 
and  to  fall  alone,  the  victims  of  their  own  perfidy  and  folly. 

He  said  that  Thomas  Campbell  "had  been  induced  to  travel 
all  the  way  from  Wheeling  to  Edenton,  with  the  expectation  that 
he  would  there  find  a  church,  congregation,  salary,  etc.,  all  to 
his  hand."  He  emphasized  his  "standpat"  attitude,  in  sum- 
ming up  his  reaction  to  the  reformatory  effort  at  Edenton  by 
his  assertion  that  "Revolutions,  whether  in  church  or  state  are 
always  to  be  deprecated." 

Thomas  Campbell  did  not  leave  Edenton  until  February,  1834. 
On  December  27,  1833,  the  Yeopim  Union  Meeting,  comprising 
the  Baptist  churches  of  Edenton  and  vicinity,  met  at  Piney 
Grove  Meeting  House,  and  formally  excluded  the  Disciple  group 


64  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

in  E  dent  on  from  "all  privileges,  responsibilities  and  relations 
of  this  Union  Meeting. '  '12  A  special  committee  served  under  the 
leadership  of  Thomas  Meredith.  It  was  called  "The  Committee 
on  the  Case  of  the  Campbellite  Reformers."  They  reported  that 
"the  system  of  Religions  doctrine  and  practice  proposed  and 
recommended  by  this  sect,  is  unsiistained  by  the  Scriptures,  sub- 
versive of  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  churches  and  singu- 
larly productive  of  strife,  contention,  and  ill-will  among  breth- 
ren."   They  passed  the  three  following  resolutions: 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  members  of  the  Yeopim  Union  Meeting,  will  re- 
ceive none  known  or  suspected  to  be  Campbellite  teachers  into  our  pulpits, 
— that  we  will  admit  neither  them  nor  their  adherents  to  our  communion, — 
and  that  we  will  in  no  way  give  our  sanction  to  the  peculiar  principles  and 
measures  which  it  is  the  aim  of  that  party  to  propagate. 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  churches  which  we  represent,  and 
those  composing  the  Association  to  which  we  belong,  to  exercise  seasonable 
precaution  against  the  propagators  of  this  new  heresy, — to  discountenance 
their  preaching  among  their  people, — and  to  expel  from  their  communion 
any  who  shall  be  known  to  embrace  or  to  favor  their  innovations. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  considered  due  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  Christian 
concord  to  guard  our  brethren  against  the  ministrations  of  one,  Thomas 
Campbell,  a  teacher  of  Campbellism,  who  has  been  for  some  time  visiting 
among  our  brethren,  carrying  with  him  letters  of  recommendation  from 
persons  residing  in  Edenton,  and  laboring,  it  is  believed,  to  disseminate 
his  peculiar  sentiments  among  our  people. 

In  February  when  Thomas  'Campbell  left  Edenton  for  Green- 
ville, he  went  by  way  of  Tarboro,  where  he  had  printed  a 
pamphlet  concerning  his  recent  experience  at  Edenton.  It  was 
signed  by  Joseph  Manning,  Thomas  Waff,  and  H.  A.  Skinner, 
and  dated  February,  1834.  Meredith  contended  that  Campbell 
wrote  this  pamphlet.  It  was  an  appeal  for  "justice  and  sym- 
pathy," and  subscribed  to  by  the  three  "much  injured  and  suf- 
fering brethren." 

The  latter  part  of  this  narrative  of  Campbell's  visit  is  a  more 
pleasant  tale.  After  his  call  at  the  office  of  the  Tarboro  printer, 
Campbell  visited  the  home  of  General  William  Clark  in  Green- 
ville. Clark  was  then  living  in  his  "tavern  home,"  diagonally 
back  of  the  present  post  office.13  Mrs.  Clark's  maiden  name  was 
Miss  Louisa  Pearce  Lanier.  She  was  from  one  of  the  distin- 
guished families  of  Pitt  County.  It  was  said  of  her  that  she  had 
a  "strong,  active  and  inquiring  mind,  that  thought  for  itself, 
and  acted  on  its  own  conclusions."     It  was  therefore  not  hard 


Group  I,  Pioneer  Churches 


First    Column,    from    the    top    dowmcard:      Hookerton,    Bay    Creek.    Kinston, 

Pfafftown. 

Second  Column,  from    the   top  downward:     Piney   Grove,   Oak   Grove,    Wheat 

Swamp,   Beaver  Dam. 


Group  II,  Pioneer  Churches 


First   Column,  from    the   top   downward:     Rountrees,   Jefferson,    Pleasant  Hill. 

Broad   Creek. 

Second     Column,     from     the    top     downward:       Chinquapin     Chapel,     Concord, 

(.Pamlico   County),    Old   Ford,    Mill   Creek. 


VISITS    OF    THE    CAMPBELLS  65 

for  her  to  break  "loose  from  the  prejudice  of  education  and  the 
scholastic  creeds  of  the  day."  So  when  "the  principles  of  the 
Reformation  as  promulgated  by  Mr.  Campbell  were  first  pre- 
sented to  her  mind,  finding  them  in  exact  accordance  with  the 
conclusions  of  her  own  judgment,  she  readily  united  in  the  work 
of  the  Reformation. ' '  The  General  was  not  at  home  when  Camp- 
bell arrived.  He  returned  within  a  few  days  and  brought  two 
other  preachers.  These  were  John  P.  Dunn  and  Abraham 
Congleton.  These  three  were  preaching  that  all  human  creeds 
should  be  abandoned  and  that  the  Bible  alone  should  be  accepted 
as  sufficient  for  faith  and  practice.  For  this  they  had  been  de- 
nounced and  proscribed  as  ' '  Campbellites, ' '  by  the  Neuse  Asso- 
ciation at  their  Fort  Barnwell  meeting  the  previous  October. 
This  was  at  the  instigation  of  Thomas  Meredith. 

The  three  preserved  letters  of  Thomas  Campbell  written  at 
this  time  constitute  about  all  of  the  direct  information  we  have 
of  this  part  of  his  visit  to  North  Carolina.14  His  first,  from 
Greenville  on  February  17th  is  written  to  his  oldest  daughter, 
Mrs.  Dorothea  Bryant.  His  second  gives  no  place  in  the  date 
line  and  was  written  March  7th  to  his  wife.  The  last  was  also 
to  his  wife  and  written  from  Pantego,  April  9th.  He  mentioned 
another  letter,  which  we  do  not  have,  written  to  his  wife  from 
Hookerton  on  March  11th.  They  are  scanty  in  historic  detail, 
but  we  are  grateful  for  the  precious  little  they  reveal. 

He  stated  that  he  had  had  continued  good  health  on  this  pro- 
longed mission,  and  that  he  was  grateful  for  the  kindness  of 
"brethren  and  sisters  of  a  nearer  and  dearer  affinity  than  flesh 
and  blood."  He  did  not  consider  that  he  did  anything  for  the 
Cause  during  his  first  three  months  at  Edenton.  In  fact  he  re- 
ferred to  his  whole  Carolina  experience  as  his  "Patmos. "  But 
after  his  visit  at  Greenville  and  Hookerton  he  said  with  some 
enthusiasm,  "I  have  been  very  much  engaged  since  my  arrival 
in  this  part  of  the  State,  and  have  the  prospect  of  being  so  dur- 
ing my  continuance  here."  He  spoke  of  a  Union  Meeting  of  the 
Disciples  which  was  to  be  held  near  him  on  March  28-30.  He 
pleasantly  anticipated  meeting  with  the  "few  friends  of  reform," 
especially  the  preachers,  "for  the  purpose  of  concert  concerning 
our  future  proceedings."  The  Union  Meeting  was  certainly  the 
oldest  group  organization  among  North  Carolina  Disciples.    He 


66  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

felicitated  his  wife  on  her  hearty  concurrence  in  this  pilgrimage. 
He  said:  "Without  your  consent,  I  had  not  been  here;  where- 
fore you  are  share  and  share  alike  with  me  in  the  fruit  and 
reward  of  my  labors." 

By  April  9th  he  was  in  Pantego  in  the  home  of  Thomas  J. 
Latham.  He  preached  in  the  old  Concord  church.  He  had 
stopped  on  the  way,  for  a  night  with  William  and  Sarah  Camp- 
bell, near  the  present  Hunters  Bridge,  toward  Yeatesville.  This 
old  Campbell  home  stood  on  what  is  now  an  open  cultivated  field 
on  the  plantation  of  Mrs.  Asa  Waters  near  the  old  Washington- 
Leechville  highway.  Thomas  J.  Latham,  of  Pantego,  was  then 
in  his  prime,  thirty-seven  years  of  age,  a  school-teacher,  and  one 
of  the  best  trained  men  of  Beaufort  County.  Latham  must  have 
profited  largely  by  this  visit.  For,  seven  years  later  his  voice 
was  effective  in  leading  the  Bethel  Conference  of  Free  Will  Bap- 
tists to  adopt  the  major  ideals  of  the  "Restoration  Movement." 
This  eventuated  in  1845  in  a  merger  with  the  Disciples. 

A  North  Carolinian  who  claimed  to  have  heard  Thomas  Camp- 
bell preach  on  this  visit,  in  writing  of  it  many  years  afterward, 
said:15  "One  thing  which  impressed  me  was  that  he  preached 
sitting  down.  He  had  rather  a  long,  but  narrow  face,  high 
prominent  forehead,  with  long,  white  hair,  rather  full  hair.  He 
sat  with  a  large  Bible  open,  and  read  much  from  it."  And  in 
the  evening  it  was  by  the  pale  light  of  the  tallow  candle  that  he 
declared  "the  whole  counsel  of  God."  He  left  for  Richmond, 
Virginia,  about  the  first  of  May,  thus  having  been  in  the  State 
for  six  months. 

The  story  of  Alexander  Campbell's  visits  to  North  Carolina 
is  but  a  "short  and  simple  annal."  He  never  came  except  to 
pass  through  by  the  best  available  transportation.  John  P. 
Dunn,  in  a  letter  to  Alexander  Campbell  dated  Hookerton,  June 
26th,  1845,  made  an  appeal  for  an  evangelist,  which  he  said  the 
Disciples  of  the  State  greatly  needed,  and  concluded:16  "Should 
it  ever  meet  your  convenience,  do  visit  and  instruct  us  in  this 
section  of  country."  After  Dr.  John  T.  AValsh  located  in  the 
State  in  March,  1852,  he  urged  him  to  come  to  the  Annual  State 
Meeting.  In  June  he  wrote  Campbell:  "Our  annual  meeting 
takes  place  in  October,  and  our  brethren  here  would  be  delighted 
to  have  you  with  them.  *  *  *  If  you  will  visit  us,  I  am  quite 
sure  you  can  do  something  for  Bethany  College  worth  coming 


VISITS    OF    THE    CAMPBELLS  67 

for.  Shall  we  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you?  It  is  only  one 
day's  travel  from  Richmond  by  railroad.  Let  me  hear  from  you 
and  come  if  you  can."  To  which  Campbell  replied:  "I  hope 
some  day  to  visit  the  brethren  in  North  Carolina,  if  the  Lord 
will." 

His  first  trip  through  the  State  was  in  November,  1838.  It 
was  to  meet  friends  in  the  Savannah  Valley  and  in  the  Piedmont 
Section  of  South  Carolina,  in  Augusta,  Georgia,  and  others  to 
the  West  and  far  Southwest.  It  was  forty-eight  hours'  travel 
by  rail,  stage,  and  steamboat  from  Petersburg,  Virginia,  to 
Charleston,  South  Carolina.  He  reached  Wilmington,  North 
Carolina  about  ten  o'clock  on  the  night  of  November  20th.  Here 
he  rested  sixteen  hours  until  two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
21st.  In  this  interval  he  prepared  and  dispatched  an  article  for 
the  Millennial  Harbinger.  The  Carolina  scenery  to  him  was  an 
unchanging  panorama  of  ' '  long-leafed  pine ' '  and  ' '  white  sand. ' ' 
He  said:17  "Having  passed  over  hundreds  of  miles  of  this  piney 
desert,  without  a  single  hill  to  relieve  the  tedium  viae  from 
Petersburg  to  Augusta,  the  monotony  of  everlasting  sands  and 
evergreens  becomes  oppressive,  and  one  naturally  sighs  for  the 
hill  and  dale,  the  lofty  mountain  and  deep  valley,  as  one  that  is 
incarcerated  in  a  Bastile  sighs  for  daylight  and  liberty. ' '  From 
Louisiana,  the  limit  of  this  trip,  he  returned  home  by  a  Missis- 
sippi River  steamboat. 

Campbell  came  through  North  Carolina  again,  accompanied 
by  R.  L.  Coleman  of  Virginia,  in  April,  1845. 18  This  was  after 
the  establishment  of  Bethany  College.  It  was  to  see  Mrs.  Emily 
H.  Tubman  of  Augusta,  Georgia,  who  was  one  of  Bethany's 
most  generous  supporters.  The  long  railway  line  had  now  been 
in  operation  for  five  years.  It  required  twenty-two  hours,  how- 
ever, for  the  two  hundred  and  thirty  miles'  run  from  Richmond 
to  Wilmington,  where  they  arrived  April  2nd.  It  was  then 
about  twenty  hours'  ocean  voyage  to  Charleston  for  them.  They 
returned  to  Virginia  from  Augusta  two  weeks  later  by  the  same 
route. 

Once  again,  on  April  29th,  1857,  he  crossed  the  State  going 
North  between  his  familiar  terminals,  Augusta  and  Richmond.19 
But  this  was  the  day  of  the  Trunk  Line  and  speed,  so  that  his 
time  on  the  road  was  reduced  two-thirds  as  compared  with  his 
former  tours  between  these  points. 


68  north  carolina  disciples  of  christ 

Notes 

!The  Christian  Baptist,  revised  by  D.  S.  Burnet,  page  291.  Millennial 
Harbinger,  1830,  page  238.  sibid.,  1843,  page  511.  *N.  C.  Baptist  Interpreter, 
July,  1833,  page  161.  Millennial  Harbinger,  1833,  page  560.  6N.  C.  Baptist 
Interpreter,  issue  March  15,  1S34,  page  66,  et  seq.  'Christian  Almanac  for 
North  Carolina,  1834,  Duke  University  Library,  pages  6-8.  8History  of  the 
Chowan  Baptist  Association  by  James  A.  Delke,  page  103.  "Christian  Bap- 
tist (Walsh)  July,  1859,  page  199.  10N.  C.  Baptist  Interpreter,  March  15, 
1834.  "From  Pamphlet  printed  at  Tarboro,  N.  C,  Feb.  1834,  signed  by  Waff. 
Manning  and  Skinner,  but  which,  Meredith  claimed,  was  written  by  Thomas 
Campbell.  This  pamphlet  is  in  Carolina  Collections,  University  of  N.  C, 
bound  with  minutes  of  the  Contentnea  and  Kehukee  Associations  and  other 
material;  card  catalogue  VC2S6C64.  12N.  C.  Baptist  Interpreter.  Jan.  4. 
1834,  page  12.  "This  "Tavern  Home"  of  Gen.  Wm.  Clark  stood  at  the 
corner  of  the  present  Cotanch  and  Second  Streets.  It  occupied  two  lots 
Nos.  125  and  137.  These  lots  can  be  identified  by  number  on  the  map  of  the 
original  plan  of  the  town  which  is  in  the  City  Engineer's  office.  The  deed 
for  this  property  is  in  book  GG.  pages  325,  and  364  in  the  office  of  Register 
of  Deeds,  Greenville,  N.  C.  "These  appear  in  "Memoirs  of  Thomas  Camp- 
bell." bv  Alexander  Campbell.  15Respess  in  the  Watch  Tower,  March  24, 
1905.  "Millennial  Harbinger,  1845,  page  429.  17Ibid.,  1839,  page  112.  lsIbid., 
1S45,   page  £<77.     wIbid.,   1857,   page  SOS. 


Chapter  VI 
THE  CAMPBELL-MEREDITH  CONTROVERSY 

An  aftermath  of  Thomas  Campbell's  visit  to  North  Carolina 
in  1833- '34  was  the  newspaper  controversy  between  Alexander 
Campbell  and  Thomas  Meredith.  This  appeared  in  Campbell's 
Millennial  Harbinger  and  Meredith's  North  Carolina  Baptist 
Interpreter  of  1834,  and  his  Biblical  Recorder  from  1835  on- 
ward. It  ran  intermittently  in  these  papers  from  1834  to  1849, 
the  juxtaposition  of  the  direct  argument  being  submitted  in 
1835  and  '36. 

Meredith  began  it  by  writing  a  serial  of  fourteen  installments 
for  his  paper  with  the  caption,  ' '  Campbellism  Examined. ' '  Soon 
after  these  articles  began  to  appear,  they  were  observed  by  three 
of  Campbell's  friends  in  Barnwell  County,  South  Carolina. 
These  were  William  R.  Erwin,  M.  M.  Robert,  and  James  D. 
Erwin.  Meredith  had  given  them  this  challenge:  "Every  man 
is  bound  by  the  rules  of  argument  to  sustain  his  own  position  by 
adequate  evidence  *  *  *  and  as  we  are  decidedly  unwilling 
that  truth  so  important  should  be  trifled  with,  or  that  evasions 
of  any  sort  should  be  tolerated  in  matters  so  sacred,  we  hereby 
respectfully  call  upon  the  advocates  of  the  sentiments  we  op- 
pose, either  to  stand  up  to  the  question  and  produce  the  requisite 
proof — such  proof  as  the  plain  common  sense  of  mankind  shall 
approve,  or  else  retract  their  position. ' '  These  friends  of  Camp- 
bell wrote  Meredith  March  5,  1834,  that  the  sentiments  of  his 
challenge  greatly  pleased  them.  They  accordingly  remitted  for 
three  subscriptions,  with  the  provision  that  Campbell  be  given 
"line  for  line,  and  page  for  page"  with  Meredith  in  the  Inter- 
preter in  the  printed  argument.1  This  Meredith  declined  and 
returned  the  money.  Later,  however,  Meredith  offered  Campbell 
the  privilege  of  being  heard  in  the  Interpreter  on  equal  terms 
with  the  editor.  Campbell  considered  this  a  most  unusual  and 
gracious  courtesy  and  began  his  discussion  by  singing  the  praises 
of  this  great  Baptist  leader. 

Thomas  Meredith  was  born  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania, 
July  7,  1795. 2    The  brightness  of  his  youth  encouraged  his  par- 

69 


70  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

ents  to  give  him  the  best  available  training.  After  his  prepara- 
tory course  at  Doyleston  Academy,  he  attended  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  graduating  there  in  1816.  He  had  purposed 
to  be  a  lawyer,  but  turned  to  the  ministry.  He  studied  theology 
under  his  pastor,  William  Staughton.  He  was  licensed  to  preach 
by  the  Sansom  Street  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  December 
30,  1816.  He  came  at  once  to  Edenton,  North  Carolina,  for  mis- 
sionary work  and  was  ordained  there  in  1818.  The  next  year 
he  located  as  pastor  at  New  Bern,  remaining  for  two  years,  es- 
tablishing the  church  there.  He  was  then  engaged  in  the  Savan- 
nah, Georgia,  pastorate;  returning  to  Edenton  in  1825  for  an 
eight  years'  engagement  with  that  church  and  Bethel,  a  rural 
church  of  the  county.  While  in  Edenton  he  founded  the  Inter- 
preter, first  Baptist  organ  of  the  State.  In  1835  he  returned  to 
New  Bern  where  he  preached  and  published  the  Biblical  Re- 
corder. For  a  considerable  period  this  was  the  only  organ  of  the 
Baptists  in  the  South.  In  1840  he  removed  to  Raleigh,  where 
he  died  November  13,  1850. 

Meredith,  as  a  writer,  and  advocate  of  higher  education,  and 
co-operative  missionary  policy  was  the  outstanding  leader  of 
the  Baptists  in  the  State  and  in  the  South.  His  communion 
gave  his  name  to  their  College  for  women  in  Raleigh  because  of 
his  pioneer  leadership  in  that  field.  His  agitation  for  co-opera- 
tive missions  was  a  leading  factor  in  the  organizing  of  the  Bap- 
tist State  Convention  at  Greenville  in  1830.  His  printed  address 
of  that  occasion  shows  a  thorough  knowledge  of  his  people  and 
his  cause  in  his  bold,  cogent  reasoning.  It  thrills  one  as  the 
vision  of  a  missionary  statesman.  It  is  perhaps  the  greatest 
document  in  the  religious  literature  of  the  State. 

Meredith  was  thought  by  Campbell  to  be  "  the  ablest  editor  of 
the  Baptists,  south  of  New  York."3  He  had  based  his  review  of 
Campbell's  teachings  on  his  "Extras"  on  "Remission  of  Sins," 
and  "Regeneration"  which  had  appeared  in  the  Millennial 
Harbinger.  A  mutually  satisfactory  proposition  for  this  news- 
paper debate  was  never  reached  by  them. 

Meredith  framed  a  proposition  for  Campbell  to  defend  by 
taking  a  statement  of  Campbell,  depriving  it  of  its  context,  and 
submitting  it  as  follows:4 

"The  system  of  facts  announced  in  the  gospel,  when  appre- 
hended by  the  natural  mind,  do,  of  themselves,  delineate  the 


THE    CAMPBELL-MEREDITH    CONTROVERSY  71 

image  of  God  upon  the  human  soul;  and  it  is  by  the  operation 
of  these  facts,  thus  acting  on  the  understanding  and  the  heart 
that  sinners  are  created  anew  and  formed  for  the  Glory  of  God. ' ' 

Over  against  the  above  proposition  which  Campbell  never 
owned,  Campbell  presented  the  following  affirmation:5 

"Kevealed  religion  is  founded  on  facts  (not  opinion  or  theo- 
ries). The  Gospel  facts  are  the  moral  seal  which  testimony  con- 
veys to  the  understanding  and  faith  brings  to  the  heart  of 
sinners,  by  which  God  creates  them  anew,  and  forms  them  for 
his  Glory." 

Meredith  never  acceded  to  a  discussion  of  the  latter  proposi- 
tion, and  Campbell  sharply  repudiated  the  one  submitted  by 
Meredith.  The  result  was  a  war  of  words,  in  default  of  a  clear- 
cut  controversial  proposition.  These  great  men  were  quite 
human  when  it  came  to  the  heat  of  debate.  As  the  controversy 
proceeded,  glaring  phrases  appeared  from  both  sides.  Meredith 
said,  Campbell  ' '  foams  and  flounces  like  a  wild  bull  in  a  net ' ' ; 
spoke  of  his  "terrible  bluster";  said  he  was  "neither  a  gentle- 
man nor  an  honest  man ' ' ;  asserted  that  Campbell 's  harsh  words 
about  him  "bespeak  a  weak  mind,  a  vulgar  taste,  a  scarcity  of 
argument  and  the  irritation  of  mortification  and  defeat."  On 
the  other  hand  Campbell  retorted  that  Meredith's  submitted 
proposition  was  "a  forgery,"  and  "a  genuine  counterfeit"; 
sighed,  "Alas!  for  this  generation  when  thus  act  the  leaders  of 
the  people";  exclaimed  that  Meredith  "does  not  know  how 
much  he  owes  to  my  mercy,"  and  declared  that  Meredith's 
"theory  is  so  blown  to  atoms  that  he  has  not  himself  courage  to 
gather  the  broken  pieces  and  attempt  to  tack  them  together"; 
and  in  the  end  called  him  the  "untoward  champion  of  meta- 
physical orthodoxy,"  as  "polished  as  the  brazen  knob  that  dec- 
orates an  iron  palisade." 

Campbell  sought  to  clarify  the  point  at  issue  by  saying:6 

I  do  teach  that  the  Holy  Spirit  renovates  the  human  mind  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  his  word;  while  you  and  many  others  seem  to  me  to  contend 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  personally  descends  from  heaven,  enters  the  human 
heart,  and  without  his  word,  miraculously  creates  a  man,  anew.  *  *  * 
You  cannot  adduce  a  solitary  instance  of  man,  woman,  or  child  having 
been  renewed  but  by  truth  spoken  or  heard.  But  I  pretend  not  to  separate 
the  Word  and  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  do  not  say  the  Word  alone,  nor  the 
Spirit  alone  enlightens,  sanctifies,  or  saves.     With  the  Lord  Jesus  I  would 


72  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

pray  to  the  Father,  "Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth;   thy  word  is  the 
truth. ' '     I  would  not  say  with  you,  ' '  Sanctify  them  by  thy  Spirit,  alone. ' ' 

Campbell's  communications  in  the  Biblical  Recorder  in  1835 
and  '36  gave  him  a  wide  circle  of  North  Carolina  readers.  Sen- 
sible to  his  opportunity  he  boldly  took  them  into  his  confidence 
to  the  end  that  he  might  "save  some  of  them  from  the  paralysis 
of  the  mystic  divinity  of  the  days  of  ignorance  and  supersti- 
tion."7 Speaking  of  the  confusing  interpretations  of  the  action 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  a  man's  conversion,  given  by  current  the- 
ology, Campbell  said: 

If  our  friends  of  North  Carolina  who  read  this  Biblical  Recorder  under- 
stand such  language,  they  are  greater  adepts  in  the  Diversions  of  Purley 
or  Home  Tooke  's  metaphysics  of  words  than  we  of  Virginia.  *  *  *  My 
courteous  and  pious  readers,  this  barbarous  and  unintelligible  jargon  which 
you  daily  read  and  hear  from  mystic  pulpits  and  mystic  presses  is  the 
great  reason  why  you  spend  so  many  cloudy  days  and  gloomy  seasons — why 
you  complain  of  so  many  desertions,  and  cold  and  languid  hours  in  your 
Christian  life.8 

Referring  to  their  mutual  use  of  Bible  facts  in  argument,  he 
said  exultantly:  "Every  inch  of  ground,  Mr.  Meredith  gains 
from  me,  it  shall  be  at  the  point  of  the  sword  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."  He  concluded:  "Brethren  of  North  Carolina,  'strike, 
but  hear  me ! '  Every  man  of  you  that  fears  God  and  loves  Jesus 
Christ,  I  claim  as  a  brother.  Need  I  say  that  it  will  be  your 
honor  and  your  bliss  to  know  all  the  truth,  and  stand  perfect 
and  complete  in  all  the  will  of  God." 

Meredith  complained  that  Campbell  did  not  argue  in  defense 
of  his  Extras  and  said  that  for  him  to  answer  Campbell's 
"cavils,  complaint,  and  railing  accusations  *  *  *  would  be 
just  about  as  consistent  as  to  use  a  twenty-four  pounder  in  kill- 
ing crows  and  blackbirds."9  He  emphatically  concluded  that 
Campbell  "denies  all  direct  and  immediate  agency  on  the  part 
of  the  Deity  in  the  work  of  regeneration."10  To  this  Campbell 
replied  by  stating  his  old  proposition  succinctly:11 

"That  God  does  only  by  the  knowledge  and  belief  and  obe- 
dience of  the  gospel  facts,  through  his  Spirit,  renew  the  hearts 
of  sinners."  He  added:  "But  I  cannot  preach  with  the  ingeni- 
ous, the  metaphysical,  and  learned  Mr.  Meredith,  that  the  Spirit, 
without  the  word,  without  the  faith,  repentance,  and  obedience, 


THE    CAMPBELL-MEREDITH    CONTROVERSY  73 

renovates  the  hearts  of  sinners."  Meredith  contended  that  this 
misrepresented  him. 

It  is  obvious  that  these  men  misunderstood  each  other,  at  this 
time,  on  this  point.  This  discussion  makes  dreary  reading  in- 
deed to  the  reader  of  today,  who  would  readily  agree  with  Camp- 
bell's  observation  that  it  embodied,  "many  pages  of  very  flat 
and  insipid  controversy."  The  formal  discussion  was  closed 
on  Meredith's  initiative  in  the  summer  of  1836.  He  repeated 
that  Campbell  would  not  defend  his  "Extras."  He  thanked 
his  readers  for  their  "patience,"  and  "to  accommodate  our 
contemporary, ' '  offered  ' '  to  publish  awhile  longer  for  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, ' '  unless  subscribers  should  protest  but  stated  that  he  would 
"give  no  attention  to  his  articles  further  than  perhaps  an  occa- 
sional remark. '  '12  In  closing  this  stage  of  the  conflict,  Campbell 
insisted  that  he  was  a  "benefactor"  of  Meredith,  having  led 
Meredith  to  declare  against  the  theory  of  "regeneration  without 
the  word ' '  and  concluded :  ' '  He  will  not  henceforth  teach  that 
a  man  is  regenerated  without  any  knowledge  or  faith  in  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  or  that  a  person  may  be  born  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  without  the  knowledge  or  belief  of  the  gospel."  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  evident  in  his  writings,  Meredith  had  so  nearly 
agreed  with  Campbell,  he  was  charged  with  "Campbellism,"  the 
epithet  applied  by  opponents  of  the  Disciples  in  current  denom- 
inational parlance.  Campbell  congratulated  him  "on  his  re- 
demption from  the  tyranny  of  super-oxygenated  Calvinism,"13 
and  said,  ' '  His  late  developments  must  be  regarded  as  a  singular 
triumph  of  truth  and  light  over  deep-rooted  prejudice,  and  long- 
cherished  error."14 

Meredith  never  conceded  agreement  with  Campbell  with  re- 
gard to  the  design  of  baptism  in  the  remission  of  sins.  Yet  in 
answering  a  South  Carolina  correspondent  he  admitted: 

That  the  scriptures  have  connected  baptism  and  remission  in  some  sense, 
it  is  worse  than  useless  to  deny.  We  are  aware  that  attempts  have  been 
made  to  destroy  the  force  of  the  passages  referred  to ;  but  always  with  such 
success  as  to  betray  the  nakedness  of  the  land,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
illustrate  the  deplorable  effects  of  partisan  prejudice.  On  this  point  Mr. 
Campbell  has  always  had  the  advantage  of  his  opponents.  He  has  tri- 
umphantly quoted  such  passages  as  Acts  2:38,  against  which  nothiug  has 
ever  been  offered  better  than  a  flimsy  criticism  or  a  palpable  perversion 
of  apostolic  teaching.^ 


74  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

However,  he  further  said,  "While  Mr.  Campbell  elevates  the 
baptismal  sacrament  above  its  proper  level,  our  brethren  on  the 
other  side  run  as  far  into  the  opposite  extreme.  The  truth,  in 
our  opinion,  lies  midway  between  these  two  excesses."16  To 
which  Campbell  replied:  "When  my  summit  level  elevation  of 
baptism  is  considered,  I  am  persuaded  Mr.  Meredith  agrees  with 
me.  It  is  this:  The  person  that  knows  that  immersion  is  com- 
manded by  Christ,  and  wilfully  disobeys  or  neglects  it,  cannot 
be  saved.  Higher  than  this,  A.  Campbell  never  ascended;  and 
if  the  Baptists  stand  below  this  elevation,  I  do  assure  them  that, 
in  my  judgment,  the  truth  lies  not  between  them  and  us. '  '17 

In  1849,  while  editor  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Review,  Mere- 
dith wrote  an  essay  on  "Baptism  for  the  Remission  of  Sins," 
taking  substantially  the  same  ground  as  Campbell.  He  spoke 
of  baptism  as  "the  great  initiatory  act  of  the  New  Testament 
scheme  of  salvation,  the  only  avenue  to  the  interior  of  the  Chris- 
tian kingdom."18  Campbell  observed  that  this  essay  did  not 
provoke  much  adverse  criticism  from  the  Baptists  and  took  the 
occasion  to  commend  the  remarkable  progress  in  that  great  com- 
munion. Speaking  of  their  growth  within  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, he  said :  "It  has  come  to  pass  that  what  some  of  the  more 
contracted  and  ill-informed  then  reprobated  as  damnable  heresy 
and  destructive  error  is  now  regarded  as  inspired  wisdom  and 
divine  knowledge,  or  at  least  well  worthy  of  still  more  concen- 
trated examination  and  regard."19 

About  a  year  before  his  death,  feeling  that  he  must  show  his 
constituents  wherein  he  disagreed  with  Campbell,  Meredith 
stated  as  follows:20 

1.  "We  do  not  hold,  nor  have  an  idea,  "that  baptism  was  designed  to 
introduce  the  subjects  of  it  into  the  participation  of  the  blessings  of  the 
death  and  resurrection  of   Christ. ' ' 

2.  We  hold,  not  only  that  baptism  has  no  abstract  efficacy,  but  that  it 
has  no  efficacy  of  any  sort, — except  what,  as  a  passive  institution,  it  derives 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  an  initiatory  rite — the  medium  of  entrance  into 
the  Christian  kingdom. 

3.  We  do  not  hold  that  baptism  is  the  means  of  obtaining  absolution. 

4.  We  do  not  hold  that  baptism  changes  the  state  of  the  believer,  any 
farther  than  said  state  may  be  effected  by  an  outward  institution  operating 
as  a  medium  of  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 


THE    CAMPBELL-MEREDITH    CONTROVERSY  75 

Campbell  said  of  this:21 

As  to  Elder  Meredith's  effort  to  show  wherein  he  dissents  from  my 
views,  I  must  say,  that  it  is  by  no  means  a  happy  effort.  ' '  Baptism, ' '  with 
him,  "has  no  efficacy  of  any  sort," — "only  as  an  initiatory  rite," — "the 
medium  of  entrance  into  the  Christian  kingdom. ' '  Well,  then,  it  has  the 
efficacy  of  initiating  a  proper  subject  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  But 
this  is  a  very  great  efficacy.  *  *  *  Unless  Elder  Meredith  thinks  it  a 
dishonor  to  agree  with  us  in  baptism  for  remission  of  sins,  why  divide  be- 
tween the  south  and  southwest  side  of  a  hair  to  make  himself  orthodox,  in 
virtue  of  dissenting  from  us!  *  *  *  I,  therefore,  suggest  to  him  the 
propriety  of  either  sharpening  his  knife  or  giving  up  the  trade  of  hair 
splitting. 

The  progressiveness  of  this  gifted  Baptist  leader  particu- 
larly in  his  last  years,  averted  much  potential  defection  to  the 
Disciples  from  the  Baptists  in  North  Carolina.  In  his  old  home 
district,  the  Chowan,  a  sympathetic  understanding  of  Baptists 
and  Disciples  was  in  large  measure  established.  Disciple  minis- 
ters were  welcomed  into  their  pulpits,  they  patronized  Bethany 
College,  and  sent  correspondent  messengers  to  representative  Dis- 
ciple meetings.  On  their  part  the  Disciples  sent  delegates  to 
the  Chowan  meetings,  contributed  to  Baptist  schools  with  money 
and  students,  and  were  happy  in  such  fraternal  relations.  Only 
in  the  Neuse  Association,  and  its  immediate  environment,  where 
Calvinism  and  intolerance  prevailed  in  a  larger  degree,  and 
yielded  more  slowly,  was  there  considerable  breaking  away  from 
the  Baptists,  to  the  Disciples. 

The  need  of  distinct  reform,  based  on  New  Testament  prece- 
dents, of  the  evangelizing  methods  in  vogue  at  the  time  of  this 
controversy,  many  leaders  felt  and  acknowledged.  An  instance 
will  show  the  need  of  this  reform  from  a  news-letter  of  Dr. 
Billings,  Meredith's  first  successor  at  Edenton.  It  was  written 
August  16,  1819,  and  reported  a  typical  North  Carolina  Baptist 
revival,  in  progress  in  the  vicinity  of  Edenton.     He  said:22 

Brother  Spivey  and  myself  preached  to  about  two  thousand  people  in  the 
open  air;  but  the  cries  of  the  people  at  last  totally  overwhelmed  us.  Some 
despairing, — some  crying  for  mercy, — others  rejoicing, — some  saying  they 
had  found  Him, — others  exclaiming,  Glory,  glory,  glory!  etc.  Young  men, 
by  dozens,  holding  each  other  weeping,  groaning,  and  rejoicing!  The  old 
members,  men  and  women,  embracing  each  other,  weeping  and  rejoicing! 
Some  of  us  kept  the  stage,  others  went  among  the  distressed.  In  a  word, 
we  preached,  prayed,  sung,  and  exhorted,  till  we  were  all  entirely  exhausted. 


76  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

We  assembled  at  10  o  'clock,  and  departed  about  2,  leaving  not  less  than 
five  hundred  persons,  under  various  exercises  of  mind, — the  male  and  female 
members  staying  to  exhort  and  pray  with  them. 

Notes 

Millennial  Harbinger,  1S34,  page  3S2.  2From  a  sketch  by  Charles  E. 
Taylor  in  Baptist  Historical  Papers.  3Millennial  Harbinger,  1835,  page  31, 
*Ibid.,  page  316.  5Ibid.  "Ibid.,  page  447.  7Ibid.,  1836,  page  16.  sIbid.,  pas-e 
21.  "Ibid.,  page  131.  10Ibid.,  page  133.  "Ibid.,  page  137.  "Ibid.,  page  353. 
"Ibid.,  1S39.  page  40.  "Ibid.,  1S40,  page  448.  15Ibid.,  page  537.  "Ibid., 
page  538.  17Tbid.  lsIbid.,  1849.  page  219.  1!>Ibid.,  page  137.  20Ibid.,  page 
685.     ^Ibid.   22Latter  Day  Luminary,   Nov.,   1S19,    page   512. 


Chapter  VII 
THE  BAPTIST  BACKGROUND 

In  human  antecedents,  the  immediate  approaches  to  the  his- 
tory of  North  Carolina  Disciples  of  Christ  are  all  of  Baptist 
character.  First  the  General  Baptist  immigrants  from  England 
and  New  England  from  whose  nuclei  arose  colonies  of  their 
faith  in  North  Carolina ;  then  the  Free  Will  Baptists,  their  suc- 
cessors in  all  but  name;  and  then  the  Regular  Baptists  who 
reacted  from  the  Calvinism  of  the  Philadelphia  Confession  of 
Faith  and  were  rather  independently  aligned  at  the  time  of  the 
appearance  of  the  Disciples.  It  is  of  primary  importance  that 
the  Baptist  history  of  this  period  be  known,  if  one  is  to  compre- 
hend the  North  Carolina  Disciples. 

In  the  first  decade  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  John  Smyth 
led  a  movement  in  England  and  Holland  which  resulted  in  the 
founding  of  the  English  General  Baptists.1  He  was  trained  at 
Cambridge  University.  He  left  the  Church  of  England  in  1606.2 
He  became  the  "teacher"  of  a  group  of  Separatists,  of  which 
Thomas  Helwys  and  John  Murton  were  leading  members.  This 
was  at  Gainsborough.  There  was  a  like  group  at  Scrooby.  The 
Gainsborough  group  because  of  vigorous  persecution  of  King 
James  I  crossed  to  Amsterdam  where  they  were  established  for 
awhile.  The  Scrooby  group  for  the  same  reason  also  went  to 
Amsterdam,  later  to  Leyden,  from  whence  they  sailed  as  Pilgrims 
on  the  Mayflower  to  New  England. 

At  Amsterdam  Smyth  was  converted  to  Arminian  principles.3 
He  renounced  infant  baptism,  and  contended  for  a  regenerate 
Church  membership  baptized  upon  personal  confession  of  faith. 
This  was  in  1609.  He  united  with  a  Mennonite  Church,  and 
died  in  1612.4  In  the  meantime  Helwys  and  Murton  returned 
to  London  and  founded  in  1611  the  first  General  Baptist  Church 
composed  of  Englishmen,  which  stood  on  English  soil.5  By  1626, 
there  were  five  such  Churches  with  a  total  membership  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty. 

By  1644,  they  had  forty-four  churches.  In  1660  they  had 
twenty  thousand  members.     During  the  next  century  they  suf- 

77 


78  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

fered  much  from  heresies.  However,  in  1760,  after  the  great 
revivals  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield  a  "New  Connection"  of  Gen- 
eral Baptists  was  established  on  a  sound  evangelical  basis.  Their 
cardinal  tenets  might  be  outlined  in  brief  as  follows: 

(1)  Universal  freedom  of  conscience  in  worship,  (2)  Weekly 
observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  (3)  Practice  of  immersion  as 
the  only  baptism  upon  personal  confession  of  faith,  (4)  Distinct 
separation  of  Church  and  State,  (5)  Belief  in  General  Atone- 
ment. 

John  Smyth  had  written  an  essay  against  infant  baptism.  As 
an  argument  this  is  thought  to  be  as  clear  and  cogent  as  ever 
came  from  a  Baptist  on  that  subject.  Pioneers  with  these  con- 
victions suffered  much  persecution  both  in  England  and  Amer- 
ica. 

The  first  Baptist  Churches  founded  in  North  Carolina  were 
Free  Will  Baptist  in  belief,  but  are  known  historically  as  Gen- 
eral or  Separate  Baptists.  Knight,  the  historian,  claimed  that 
their  ministers  came  direct  from  London  but  he  does  not  give 
their  names.6  Morgan  Edwards  who  travelled  in  North  Caro- 
lina, said  that  there  were  Free  Will  Baptist  families  here  as 
early  as  1695.  They  had  a  yearly  meeting  organized  in  1720 
according  to  Rufus  K.  Hearne.  These  churches  adhered  to  the 
English  Confession  of  Faith,  formulated  in  1660  and  presented 
to  King  Charles  II  upon  his  accession  to  the  throne. 

There  were  sixteen  Baptist  Churches  in  North  Carolina  in 
1752.  Seven  of  these  were  as  follows:  Toisnot,  in  Edgecombe 
County  (identical  with  the  Wilson,  North  Carolina,  Primitive 
Baptist  Church  of  today),  Falls  of  Tar  River,  in  Edgecombe 
County  (now  Nash  County),  Kehukee  and  Fishing  Creek  in 
Halifax  County,  Reedy  Creek  in  Warren  County,  Sandy  Run 
in  Bertie  County,  and  Shiloh  in  Camden  County.  These  seven 
churches  adopted  the  Philadelphia  confession  of  Faith  when  the 
Kehukee  Association  was  founded  in  1765.  Six  other  churches 
of  this  group  of  sixteen  of  1752,  were  as  follows:  Perquimans, 
in  Perquimans  County;  Gum  Swamp  in  Pitt  County;  Grimesly, 
and  Little  Creek  in  Greene  County;  and  Wheat  Swamp  and 
Lousan  Swamp  in  Lenoir  County.7  These  six  churches  would 
not  unite  with  the  Kehukee  Association  at  its  organization  in 
1765.     The  other  three  churches  remaining  of  the  sixteen,  are 


THE    BAPTIST    BACKGROUND  79 

not  known  or  traceable  at  this  day.  It  is  assumed  that  they 
joined  the  Kehukee  Association. 

In  May,  1755,  John  Gano,  representing  the  Philadelphia  Bap- 
tist Association  visited  these  North  Carolina  Baptist  Churches. 
He  was  a  trained  leader,  very  superior  in  education  to  the  pas- 
tors of  these  Baptist  Churches.  He  came  to  reconstruct  their 
church  polity  and  doctrine  to  accord  with  the  current  emphases 
of  the  Philadelphia  Association.  His  presence  and  mission  were 
resented  by  these  Baptists,  but  his  powerful  personality  awed 
and  intimidated  them.  This  prepared  the  way  for  the  visit  the 
next  fall  of  Peter  Peterson  Van  Horn,  and  Benjamin  Miller,  also 
of  the  Philadelphia  Association.  They  led  most  of  these  Baptists 
into  the  high  Calvinism  of  their  Philadelphia  Association ;  hence 
they  were  organized  into  the  Kehukee  Association,  governed  by 
that  creed,  in  1765. 

The  family  name  of  John  Gano,  who  figured  so  largely  in  this 
transition  of  the  Baptists  of  North  Carolina,  is  of  much  interest 
to  the  Disciple  historian.  He  was  a  chaplain  in  the  American 
Revolution  and  closely  associated  with  General  George  Wash- 
ington. He  was  a  North  Carolina  pastor  at  the  Jersey  Settle- 
ment on  the  Yadkin,  before  the  Revolution.  He  later  became 
pastor  at  New  York;  then  at  Philadelphia.  He  was  then  per- 
haps the  outstanding  Baptist  preacher  in  America.  In  1787  he 
located  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky.  His  son,  Richard  Montgomery 
Gano,  was  a  General  in  the  War  of  1812.  His  great-grandson, 
Richard  Montgomery  Gano,  Jr.,  was  a  Brigadier  General  of  the 
Confederacy,  and  fought  under  Albert  Sidney  Johnson  and 
John  H.  Morgan.  John  Allen  Gano,  was  a  grandson  of  the 
famous  John  Gano,  a  son  of  the  first  General  R.  M.  Gano.  He 
was  for  sixty-three  years  a  minister  of  the  Disciples  in  Ken- 
tucky, baptizing  ninety-eight  hundred  souls.  He  was  the  suc- 
cessor of  Barton  W.  Stone  at  Cane  Ridge.  He  had  a  son,  the 
second  General  R.  M.  Gano,  who  after  the  Civil  War  became  a 
Disciple  evangelist,  leading  more  than  four  thousand  converts 
into  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  the  Central  Mississippi  Valley.8 

Among  the  first  Baptist  preachers  in  North  Carolina  whose 
names  are  preserved  for  us,  were  Paul  Palmer,  Joseph  Parker, 
William  Parker,  John  Winfield,  William  Sojourner,  and  Shubael 
Stearns.  These  were  all  General  Baptists,  or  Separates  as  they 
were  called  in  New  England.     It  seems  that  the  two  Parkers 


80  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

and  John  Winfield  were  trained  and  inspired  for  the  ministry 
by  Paul  Palmer.  The  first  Baptist  Church  established  in  the 
State  was  Shiloh  in  Camden  County,  under  Paul  Palmer.9  It 
was  in  1727.  The  second  was  Meherrin  in  Hertford  County  in 
1729,  under  Joseph  Parker.  In  1773  Parker  began  preaching  at 
Quotankey  Creek  in  Pitt  County,  and  at  Wheat  Swamp,  in 
Lenoir  County,  where  he  resided.  He  died  in  1791  and  was 
buried  in  Robert  Wyrington's  graveyard  on  Wheat  Swamp.10 
There  is  no  mark  at  his  grave.  James  Roach  a  Free  Will  Bap- 
tist preacher  of  Craven  County  then  came  and  took  charge  of 
Wheat  Swamp  and  Lousan  Swamp  Churches  adding  much 
strength  to  them.  It  was  said  of  Joseph  Parker  that  he  "was  a 
square  built  man,  with  broad  face,  about  five  feet,  eight  inches 
high,  and  in  his  latter  years  wore  on  his  head  a  cap  continually. 
His  manner  in  preaching  was  full  of  animation."  He  is  re- 
garded as  the  father  of  the  Free  Will  Baptists  of  Eastern  North 
Carolina.11  At  this  time  there  were  three  Free  Will  Baptist 
centers  in  the  region :  namely,  Wheat  Swamp  in  Lenoir  County, 
Gum  Swamp  in  Pitt  County,  and  Pungo  (near  Ransomville)  in 
Beaufort  County.  William  Parker  is  said  to  have  preached  at 
Gum  Swamp.  He  died  in  1794.  John  Winfield 's  home  was  on 
the  Pungo. 

These  three  preachers,  the  two  Parkers  and  John  Winfield 
refused  the  Philadelphia  Creed  to  the  last  and  held  their 
churches  out  of  the  Kehukee  Association:  namely,  Wheat 
Sw^mp^and  Lousan  Swamp  in  Lenoir  County,  Gum  Swamp  in 
Pitt,  Grimesly  and  Little  Creek  in  Greene,  and  the  group  in 
lower  Beaufort  on  the  Pungo.  The  main  difference  at  this  time 
between  the  Calvinistic  Baptists  and  the  Free  Wills  seems  to 
have  been  that  before  admission  to  the  Church  of  any  convert 
by  the  Calvinists,  a  Christian  experience  must  be  related  by  the 
convert  subject  to  catechetical  examination  and  determination 
by  church  leaders ;  whereas  the  Free  Wills  baptized  one  into 
Christ  upon  his  simple  profession  of  faith.  In  1766  the  name 
of  Free  Will  Baptists  began  to  be  applied  to  this  group  by  their 
enemies  to  contradistinguish  them  from  Regular,  or  Calvinistic 
Baptists.12  This  term  was  used  in  the  Flat  Swamp  community 
near  Robersonville  to  apply  to  their  neighbors  at  Gum  Swamp, 
an  adjacent  community,  in  Pitt  County.  Free  Will  Baptist 
growth  was  very  slow,  due  in  part  to  the  aggressive  Calvinists. 


Thomas  Jordan  Latham,  1797-1862 


Benjamin  Parrott,  1798-1858 


THE   BAPTIST    BACKGROUND  81 

It  is  stated  that  in  1807  they  had  but  three  ministers  and  five 
Churches.  Jeremiah  Heath  came  to  their  ministry  that  year. 
He  said  that  in  1827  they  had  800  members,  with  the  following 
as  their  leading  ministers :  Frederick  Fonville,  Isaac  Pipkin, 
Henry  Smith,  Levi  Braxton,  Nathaniel  Lockheart,  Beading 
Moore,  Jessie  Alphine,  Jere  Bowe,  James  Moore,  and  Bobert 
Bond.  He  added:  "The  ministers  are  all  men  of  families,  of 
litlle^ property,  and  not  a  single  scholar  among  us." 

Many  of  the  Free  Will  Baptists  of  these  Churches,  which  had 
been  founded  nearly  a  century  before  joined  in  the  merger  with 
the  Disciple  Movement  at  Hookerton  on  May  2,  1845.  This  we 
are  to  tell  later.  But  it  should  be  said  here  that  the  present 
Wheat  Swamp  Church,  in  Lenoir  Count y,  both  in  local  church 
name  and  personnel  considered  in  their  unbroken  connections, 
.is  decidedly  the  oldest  church  of  the  North  Carolina  Disciples. 


The  other  four  Churches,  as  such,  never  came  to  the  Disciples. 
Gum  Swamp,  Grimesley  and  Little  Creek  remained  Free  Will, 
1  while  Lousan  Swamp  became  Union  Baptist  under  James  W.    ] 
Hunnicutt  of  Virginia.  . ■ * 

In  consideration  of  the  early  relations  of  Regular  Baptists 
and  Disciples  in  North  Carolina  our  attention  must  be  given  to 
the  Neuse  and  Kehukee  Associations.  A  century  ago  it  was  the 
custom  in  the  annual  meetings  of  these  Associations  to  have  a 
circular  letter  written  by  some  specified  leader  and  read  for 
approval.  If  approved  it  was  printed  with  the  minutes.  Its 
modern  counterpart  is  the  keynote  Convention  speech.  The 
Neuse  Association  Meeting  of  1805,  printed  a  circular  letter 
which  Alexander  Campbell  highly  commended  in  his  Millennial 
Harbinger  for  March,  1832. 13  He  called  attention  to  the  notable 
departure  of  the  Baptists  in  their  current  practices,  1832,  from 
their  former  simplicities.  This  circular  in  the  main  was  an 
exhortation  for  the  supremacy  of  the  Bible  for  authority  for  the 
spirit  and  practice  of  the  Church,  and  a  warning  against  the 
domination  of  any  merely  human  personality  or  system.  Ob- 
jecting to  human  creeds  as  binding  to  the  Church,  it  said : 

They  cast  contempt  upon  the  Scriptures,  and  their  authors,  assuming 
the  prerogative  of  Christ,  they  presuppose  that  the  Scriptures  are  imper- 
fect, and  short  of  being  in  themselves  a  sufficient  rule  for  a  Church;  for- 
asmuch as  they  add  traditions  that  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  word  of  God 
and  bind  them  upon  their  adherents  by  which  they  are  led  to  read  and 


82  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

consider  those  writings  more  than  the  Scriptures,  thereby  lay  a  greater 
stress  upon  them,  and  so  to  be  like  those  that  seem  somewhat  in  the  Church 
and  less  regard  Christ  and  his  word.     This  is  contempt  indeed. 

This  circular  is  signed  by  Francis  Oliver,  Moderator,  and 
Samuel  Buxton,  Clerk. 

In  1811,  this  Neuse  Association  had  twenty-two  Churches  with 
1,036  members,  and  the  annual  meeting  was  held  October  19,  at 
Chinquapin  Chapel  in  Jones  County  where  John  Koonce  was 
minister.14 

In  1832  it  had  twenty-one  Churches  with  fourteen  ministers 
and  964  members.  Six  of  these  Churches  are  of  peculiar  interest 
to  Disciples  today.  Little  Sister,  in  Lenoir  County,  is  listed  as 
having  thirty-two  members,  with  John  P.  Dunn  and  Abraham 
Congleton  as  ministers.  This  is  the  Church  from  which  sprang 
the  Kinston  Church  of  Christ.  Another  is  Rountrees,  Pitt 
County,  with  twenty-seven  members,  and  Noah  Tison,  minister. 
The  other  four  are  Grindle  Creek,  Pitt  County,  eighty-three 
members,  Gen.  Win.  Clark,  minister;  Southwest,  Lenoir  County, 
eighty  members,  F.  B.  Loftin,  minister;  Chinquapin  Chapel, 
Jones  County,  thirty-one  members,  J.  Brock,  minister;  and 
Swift  Creek,  Craven  County,  with  twenty-four  members, 
founded  1784,  D.  Whitford,  minister.  The  only  new  church 
added  on  the  register  for  1834  of  interest  to  Disciples'  history, 
was  Kitts  Swamp,  Craven  County. 

In  the  Kehukee  Association  in  1833  there  was  a  revolt  against 
the  Philadelphia  Confession  led  by  General  William  Clark  and 
Jeremiah  Leggett.  This  was  purely  of  their  own  initiative. 
They  must  be  credited  with  having  started  it,  although  their 
movement  later  had  an  excellent  promotional  help  in  the  Millen- 
nial Harbinger.  They  had  taken  one  article  of  their  creed  so 
seriously  as  to  give  it  a  literal  application.  Chapter  I,  Section  6, 
of  the  Philadelphia  Confession  reads  as  follows: 

"The  whole  Counsel  of  God  concerning  all  things  necessary 
for  his  own  glory,  man's  salvation,  faith,  and  life,  is  either  ex- 
pressly set  down,  or  necessarily  contained  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures; unto  which  nothing  at  any  time  is  to  be  added,  whether 
by  new  revelation  of  the  spirit,  or  traditions  of  men. ' ' 

They  also  broke  away  from  the  Calvinistic  dogmas  of  this 
Creed  as  to  God's  decrees  in  predestination  and  foreordination, 
generally  called  fatalism.     Leggett  preached  much  at  Tranters 


THE    BAPTIST    BACKGROUND  83 

Creek,  and  Old  Ford,  in  Beaufort  County,  Smithwicks  Creek  in 
Martin  County,  and  Oak  Grove  in  Pitt  County.  Gen.  Clark's 
home  Church  was  Grindle  Creek,  in  the  western  edge  of  Pactolus, 
but  he  was  known  in  all  the  Churches  of  the  district  where  he 
was  a  preacher  of  power  for  several  years.  He  was  clerk  of  the 
Kehukee  Association  in  its  momentous  session  of  1827  where  the 
issue  was  forced  as  to  organized  missions.  He  wrote  the  circular 
letter  for  the  meeting  in  1828,  at  North  Creek.  It  was  adopted 
and  printed.  It  sounds  a  strong  evangelical  note,  and  in  spirit 
and  language  seems  strangely  inconsistent  with  the  fatalism  of 
the  Kehukee  Creed.  He  had  the  honor  of  preaching  the  annual 
introductory  sermon  at  the  Little  Conetoe  Meeting  in  October, 
1829,  at  which  time  he  was  also  appointed  to  write  the  letter  of 
correspondence  to  the  Neuse  Association  and  to  be  a  bearer  of 
the  same.  This  was  the  last  sermon  he  preached  in  the  Associa- 
tion. Its  theme  was  "The  Great  Commission."  He  attended 
the  Kehukee  Association  for  the  last  time  at  Morattock  in  1830. 
In  1833,  he  published  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Clark's  Defense  and 
Justification  to  the  Kehuky  Association."  dishing  Biggs  Has- 
sell,  a  layman  at  that  time,  replied  to  this  in  another  pamphlet, 
October,  1833,  in  which  he  professed  to  answer  Clark's  "desul- 
tory remarks";  offered  him  a  "Primer  in  which  he  may  learn 
the  first  principles  of  the  Christian  religion";  and  gave  an 
apologetic  for  the  publication.  At  the  Kehukee  Association 
Meeting  of  1833,  Grindle  Creek  and  Tranters  Creek  Churches 
were  stricken  from  the  list,  and  it  was  resolved  to  "disappro- 
bate  the  conduct"  of  those  who  had  denied  their  creed  at  Old 
Ford  and  Smithwicks  Creek. 

We  may  see  what  course  this  revolution  took  in  the  churches 
if  we  consider  as  a  typical  instance  of  it  the  following  minutes 
of  proceedings  of  Smithwicks  Creek  Church,  Martin  County,  in 
their  regular  monthly  church  meetings  :15 

Saturday  before  the  4th  Sunday  in  January,  1833.  A  query  being 
handed  in,  what  doctrine  shall  be  preacht  in  this  church  for  the  future; 
that  of  the  general  attonement  and  speshel  application,  or  speshel  attone- 
ment  and  speshel  application,  the  same  laid  over  til  next  conference. 

Saturday  23rd  of  February,  1833.  There  being  a  nonfellowship  existing 
amongst  us  respecting  our  principles,  on  motion  agreed  the  question  be 
taken  whereas,  John  Perry,  John  Robason,  Josiah  Lilly,  Henry  Peel,  Luke 
Bennette,  Elizabeth  Robason,  Pennie  Robason,  Prudence  Peel,  Nancy  Perry 
and  Sarah  Swain  rose  from  their  seats  declaring  a  nonfellowship  with  the 


84  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

Kehukey   creed   and   our   articles.      Then    dismist.      Jacob   D.    Herrington, 
moderator. 

Saturday  before  4th  Sunday  in  March,  1833.  On  motion  the  minutes  of 
last  conference  was  red.  On  motion  agreed  the  question  be  taken  on  these 
ten  members  before  mentioned.  And  they  wear  excommunicated,  the  query 
is  withdrawn,  the  query  then  dismist.     Jesse  Stallings,  moderator. 

It  seems  they  had  a  lingering  hope  of  redeeming  one  member 
of  the  excommunicated  group,  as  shown  by  the  following  minute  : 

Saturday,  25th  May,  1833.  Thos.  Biggs  Moderator.  Brother  Joel  Perry 
is  cauled  in  to  report,  who  reports  he  cited  Sister  Nancy  Perry  to  attend 
and  she  failed  to  do  so  •  the  sence  of  the  conference  being  taken,  and  she 
was  excluded  for  her  principles. 

Some  practices  among  North  Carolina  Disciples  have  de- 
scended as  an  inheritance  from  these  Baptists.  One  of  these  is 
the  Union  Meeting  which  has  been  changed  in  a  measure  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  present,  but  yet  in  spirit  and  operation  is 
similar  to  the  old  time  meeting.  In  Hassell's  History  it  is  said 
that  a  Union  Meeting  "consisted  in  a  union  of  a  few  churches 
that  met  together  at  stated  times  to  confer  in  love  about  matters 
relating  to  peace,  brotherly  union,  and  general  fellowship. 
Their  sessions  lasted  about  three  days.  Every  fifth  Sunday  in 
the  month  was  a  favorite  time  for  them  to  be  held,  including  the 
previous   Friday   and   Saturday." 

A  quarterly  business  meeting  for  every  local  church  was  a 
Free  Will  Baptist  practice.  The  Free  Will  Baptist  Discipline, 
Page  9,  Edition  1880,  provided: 

"The  Church,  therefore  of  Jesus  Christ,  being  of  the  Baptist 
order,  do  covenant  and  agree  that  four  times  a  year,  viz :  every 
three  months,  to  assemble  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  Godly 
Conference,  the  members  being  all  present  with  convenience, 
then  and  there  the  business  of  the  church  shall  be  done." 

This  was  generally  known  as  the  "Quarterly  meeting,"  of 
the  church.  It  was  the  common  practice  of  Disciples  for  many 
years.  It  is  yet  observed  by  some  rural  Disciple  groups  in  East- 
ern North  Carolina. 

North  Carolina  Disciples  have  a  reputation  as  sticklers  for 
the  "delegate  Convention."  This  is  in  large  part  a  heritage 
from  Free  Will  Baptists.  Article  6,  Section  VI,  of  the  Free 
Will  Baptist  Discipline  says: 

"Every  regular  Church  shall  be  entitled  to  two  delegates  to 
the  General  Conference." 


THE    BAPTIST    BACKGROUND  85 

The  line  of  cleavage  between  Disciples  and  Free  Will  Baptists 
was  the  abolition  of  the  creed.  Disciples  were  slow  in  discon- 
tinuing some  of  the  other  Baptist  practices  such  as  the  cere- 
monial washing  of  the  saints'  feet,  quarterly  communion,  and 
the  anointing  of  the  sick  with  oil.  Many  of  them  also  retained 
the  mourner's  bench  for  several  years. 

After  the  coming  of  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh,  in  1852,  and  the 
greater  diffusion  of  intelligence  as  to  the  practices  of  the  gen- 
eral Disciple  group,  these  aberrations  gradually  disappeared. 
Dr.  Walsh  submitted  the  following  resolution  which  was  adopted 
in  the  Disciples'  Annual  Meeting  of  1858: 

"Kesolved  as  the  sense  of  this  conference,  for  the  sake  of  that 
hearty  co-operation  which  should  obtain  among  us  as  Christians, 
and  for  the  sake  of  uniformity  in  all  our  religious  exercises,  that 
we  regard  the  practice  of  calling  penitents  to  a  'mourners 
bench,'  or  'anxious  seat'  as  unscriptural,  contrary  to  the  practice 
of  primitive  Christians,  and,  as  calculated  to  produce  confusion 
in  the  churches  and  to  bewilder  and  mislead  the  penitents  them- 
selves." 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  colored  Disciples  of  Eastern  Caro- 
lina who  had  received  their  training  from  ante-bellum  masters, 
or  before  North  Carolina's  full  adaptations  to  the  general  Dis- 
ciple Movement,  continue  to  this  day  ceremonial  feet  washing, 
together  with  some  other  primitive  customs.  This  marks  them 
as  a  peculiar  group,  among  the  American  Disciples. 

Notes 

l"A  Short  History  of  the  Baptists,"  by  Henry  C.  Vedder,  page  201.  See 
also  American  Church  History  Series,  1907;  "History  of  the  Baptists,"  by 
A.  H.  Newman,  pages  38-47.  2"A  Short  History  of  the  Baptists,"  Vedder. 
page  202.  '■'Ibid.,  page  203.  4Ibid.,  page  204.  sIbid..  page  205.  «"History 
of  the  Free  Will  Baptists  in  North  Carolina,"  bv  Harrison  and  Barfield. 
page  40.  'Ibid.,  page  53.  "Christian  Weekly,  Oct.  14,  1905,  page  4.  ^'His- 
tory of  the  Baptists  in  North  Carolina,"  by  Chas.  B.  Williams,  page  10, 
et  seq.  lnS.  J.  Wheeler  in  art,  on  "Meherrin  Church."  in  Baptist  Historical 
Papers  Vol.  I.  ""History  of  the  Baptists  in  N.  C,"  Williams,  page  56. 
""History  of  the  Free  Will  Baptists  in  N.  C,"  page  78.  "Millennial  Har- 
binger, 1832.  page  101.  ""History  of  the  Baptists."  Vol.  II.  bv  David  Bene- 
dict, page  525.  15From  Clerk's  records  of  Smithwicks  Creek  Church,  at  pres- 
ent in   hands   of  Purley  Getsingier,   R.    F.   D.,    Jamesville    N     C 


Chapter  VIII 
RISE  OF  DISCIPLES  AMONG  REGULAR  BAPTISTS 

It  is  stated  by  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh  that,  according  to  records 
which  he  knew,  the  earliest  general  meeting  of  Disciples  in 
North  Carolina  was  held  at  Little  Sister  Church,  seven  miles 
north  of  Kinston,  on  February  2,  3,  1831.1  This  Church  was 
then  on  the  roll  of  the  Neuse  Association  of  Regular  Baptists. 
And  the  other  Churches  represented  in  this  Disciple  Meeting 
were  likewise  nominally  registered  with  the  Neuse  or  Kehukee 
Associations.  The  Churches  represented  were  Tranters  Creek 
and  Old  Ford  of  Beaufort  County,  Rountrees  and  Grindle  Creek 
of  Pitt  County,  and  Little  Sister  of  Lenoir  County.  The  dele- 
gates reported  were  General  William  Clark,  John  P.  Dunn, 
Abraham  Congleton,  Walter  Dunn,  A.  Tull,  James  S.  Desmond, 
B.  F.  Eborn,  John  Leggett,  Edwin  Gorham,  0.  Canfield,  Charles 
J.  Rountree,  Willie  Nobles,  and  Isaac  Baldree.  This  was  the 
Union  Meeting  of  Disciples  of  Christ.  It  was  later  amalgamated 
with  the  Bethel  Conference. 

These  Churches  evidently  were  those  influenced  by  the  preach- 
ing of  General  William  Clark  who  withdrew  openly  from  the 
Kehukee  Association  in  1833.  Jeremiah  Leggett  had  preached 
Arminian  doctrine  as  early  as  1828  at  Old  Ford.  He  now  stood 
with  General  Clark  and  helped  much  with  the  Beaufort,  Martin 
and  Pitt  County  constituents.  John  P.  Dunn  had  preached  the 
first  sermon  of  his  ministry  at  Greenville  a  few  months  before 
this  meeting.  Walter  Dunn,  his  brother,  lived  near  Kinston  and 
was  a  strong  charter  member  of  Kinston  Church  when  organ- 
ized, January  21,  1843.  This  was  identical  with  Little  Sister, 
which  was  moved  to  the  then  small  village  of  Kinston. 

General  William  Clark  had  subscribed  for  the  Millennial  Har- 
binger in  May,  1830,  and  was  its  first  reader  in  North  Carolina.2 
In  December,  1830,  Thomas  J.  Latham,  a  Free  Will  Baptist,  of 
Pantego,  was  the  second  subscriber.  Clark  stated  the  situation 
of  his  group  in  his  letter  to  the  Millennial  Harbinger  of  Novem- 
ber 17,  1833.    He  said  :3 

86 


RISE    OF    DISCIPLES    AMONG   REGULAR   BAPTISTS  87 

There  are  four  or  five  of  us  in  this  section  of  country  who  are  engaged 
in  publishing  the  ancient  gospel.  I  am  told  that  the  Neuse  Association  did, 
at  its  last  session,  exclude  us  and  prohibit  us  the  use  of  their  pulpita. 

alleging  that  we  were  C ites.     I  am  on  the  eve  of  starting  to  Alabama 

and  Mississippi,  and  wish  you  had  the  means  of  knowing  my  character  and 
standing,  so  that  you  could  recommend  me  to  the  brethren.  The  cause  here 
is  gaining  ground,  notwithstanding  there  is  great  persecution  and  pro- 
scription; but  we  are  moved  by  none  of  those  things.  Allow  me  to  mention 
as  my  fellow-laborers,  Jeremiah  Leggett,  Abraham  Congleton,  and  John  P. 
Dunn,  brethren  of  the  most  pure  and  unblemished  religious  character. 
After  having  stated  the  gospel  facts,  and  laid  open  the  plan  of  salvation 
as  clearly  as  I  could,  I  have  heard  them  express  their  surprize  at  its  sim- 
plicity, and  to  say  that  it  was  as  plain  as  their  hand,  and  that  it  must 
stand  whilst  the  Bible  stands. 

The  Neuse  Association  had  its  annual  meeting  at  Fort  Barn- 
well Chapel,  October  19-21,  1833.  The  old  Meeting  House  has 
disappeared.  It  stood  in  an  oak  grove  on  the  western  edge  of 
the  present  Fort  Barnwell  Village,  opposite  the  junction  of  the 
present  Dover  Koad  with  the  hard-surfaced  east-and-west  State 
highway.  General  Samuel  Simpson  was  Moderator  and  his  son- 
in-law,  William  P.  Biddle  was  Clerk.  Of  the  23  Churches  in  the 
Association  only  eight  were  represented.  Thomas  Meredith  was 
present.  He  went  from  this  meeting  to  New  Bern  and  to  the 
annual  Baptist  State  Convention  some  days  later  in  Richmond 
County.  The  Neuse  Association  at  Fort  Barnwell  passed  the 
following  resolution  :4 

Whereas,  Abraham  Congleton,  John  P.  Dunn,  and  William  Clark,  have 
embraced,  and  are  now  in  the  habit  of  preaching  doctrines  which  are 
deemed  not  only  heretical,  but  subversive  of  the  peace  and  best  interests 
of  our  Churches,  viz.:  the  fundamental  views  of  a  certain  Mr.  Campbell; 
it  is  therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  Churches  connected  with  this  body  are  recommended 
to  exclude  from  their  pulpits,  and  from  their  churches  the  above  named 
individuals,  and  all  others  professing  the  same  and  similar  sentiments. 

The  day  of  exclusion  of  these  three  ministers  from  the  Neuse 
fellowship  might  well  be  called  the  natal  day  of  North  Carolina 
Disciples  of  Christ.  For  while  Abraham  Congleton 's  subsequent 
work  was  shrouded  in  obscurity,  presumably  because  of  his  early 
death,  and  General  William  Clark  left  within  two  years  for 
Mississippi,  yet  John  P.  Dunn  remained  in  North  Carolina  a 
tower  of  Disciple  strength,  for  his  twenty-six  remaining  years. 
And  he  had  much  influence  with  the  Free  Will  group.    Writing 


88  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

reminiscently  in  1851  to  Alexander  Campbell,   G-eneral  Clark 
said  :5 

At  first  I  was  a  Baptist  preacher,  of  the  strict  Calvinistic  order;  my  only- 
brother  was  also  a  preacher  of  that  denomination,  and  most  of  my  rela- 
tions were  of  that  order.  My  father  and  mother  lived  and  died  in  that 
church.  I  am  sure  in  my  mind,  that  no  similar  struggle  can  await  me  in 
this  life,  as  the  one  that  I  encountered  in  departing  from  them.  As  a 
Baptist  preacher,  I  had  been  very  successful,  was  the  pastor  of  several 
churches,  and  was  happy  in  the  confidence  of  my  brethren,  whom  I  loved 
dearly;  and  never  shall  I  forget  the  struggle  of  soul  that  I  had  when  I 
went  into  my  pulpit  and  said,  "My  brethren,  I  have  been  wrong."  The 
shock,  too,  upon  them,  was  very  great.  Never,  whilst  I  have  consciousness, 
shall  I  forget  that  solemn  moment.  I  had  become  fully  convinced,  and,  if 
possible,  am,  after  a  lapse  of  many  years  of  critical  investigation,  more 
fully  convinced  that  the  London,  Philadelphia,  and  Kehuky  Confessions, 
or  articles  of  faith,  were  wrong,  with  scarcely  one  redeeming  article.  I 
examined  Fuller's  doctrine,  and  found  that  even  worse  than  Calvin's,  for 
to  the  objectionable  features  of  Calvin  and  Gill,  he  had  added  that  of 
hypocrisy  and  mental  reservation ;  for  to  my  mind,  it  made  no  difference 
as  to  the  sinner,  whether  the  limitation  was  in  the  atonement  or  in  its 
application;  for  if  those  who  were  elected  before  this  world  or  themselves 
were  in  existence,  were,  by  an  irrevocable  decree,  to  be  the  only  benefici- 
aries, then  the  condition  of   the  non-elect  was  precisely  the  same. 

Renouncing  these  fooleries  and  speculations,  I  stood  alone  for  some  time. 
I  knew  not  what  to  do,  or  where  to  go.  Finally,  I  resigned  my  pastoral 
office  in  the  church  where  I  had  my  membership.  I  think  that  there  were 
one  hundred  or  more  members  in  that  church.  The  church  insisted  that  I 
should  take  the  charge  of  them  again.  To  this  I  agreed,  upon  the  follow- 
ing condition :  ' '  That  they  should  enter  upon  their  church  book  a  renun- 
ciation of  everything  of  human  origin,  written  since  the  close  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures,  and  that  I  should  be  permitted  to  preach  what  I  under- 
stood the  scriptures  to  teach,  irrespective  of  the  writings,  or  creeds,  or 
confessions  of  faith,  before  alluded  to."  In  other  words,  we  renounced 
human  authority  of  every  description  whatever,  in  matters  of  religion.  We 
sent  a  copy  of  what  we  had  done  to  some  of  the  churches  adjoining  us,  and 
I  think  seven  adopted  them.  It  was  just  in  this  state  of  affairs  that  your 
venerable  father  visited  us.  We  rejected  him  (for  which  I  have  heartily 
repented),  and  refused  to  come  into  the  Reformation.  We  were  ignorant 
of  your  writings.  I  had  taken  the  Harbinger  for  but  a  short  time,  and  I 
do  not  know  that  any  other  person  took  it.  We  were  almost  entirely  ig- 
norant of  your  views;  and  all  that  we  had  done,  was  to  renounce  human 
dictation  in  matters  of  religion,  and  owe  allegiance  to  God  and  his  word 
alone.  One  of  my  brethren  said  to  me  one  day,  "Bro.  Clark,  I  do  not 
know  what  to  preach  or  how  to  pray;  but  upon  one  thing  I  have  determined 
— that  I  will  study  the  scriptures,  and  learn  them,  so  that  I  may  know  what 
to  preach  and  how  to  pray."     These  very  sentiments  had  passed  through 


RISE    OF   DISCIPLES   AMONG   REGULAR   BAPTISTS  89 

my  own  mind  only  a  few  days  before,  and  I  had  also  adopted  the  same 
resolution. 

About  this  time  Elder  John  P.  Dunn,  Abraham  Congleton,  and  myself 
were  denounced  and  published  by  the  Neuse  Association,  as  being  Camp- 
bellites,  and  holding  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  a  certain  A.  Campbell. 
This  was  not  true,  for  we  did  not  know  what  you  taught.  We  had  adopted 
the  Bible  as  being  alone  sufficient  for  us  as  Christians,  and  this,  I  suppose, 
was  the  heresy  charged  upon  us,  and  against  which  the  world  was  cau- 
tioned, as  being  Campbellism.  At  this  period  the  Harbinger  became  more 
generally  read  by  us,  and  we  profited  greatly  by  it.  The  subject  of  faith 
was,  with  me,  of  very  difficult  solution.  How  it  could  be  the  gift  of  God, 
and  yet  the  duty  of  man,  I  could  not  for  my  life  perceive.  I  wrote  to  you 
upon  the  subject.  In  some  short  time  I  saw  an  article  on  the  subject  in 
the  Harbinger,  that  faith  was  produced  by  evidence.  As  soon  as  I  read 
the  article,  the  whole  subject  matter  was  plain  to  my  mind,  and  I  wonder 
why  I  could  not  perceive  this  plain  and  simple  truth  before.  Our  brethren 
having  learned  it  they  taught  it,  and  other  denominations,  also,  learned  it, 
and  now  teach  it. 

The  identity  of  the  seven  Churches  to  which  General  Clark 
referred  in  the  above  as  having  adopted  his  proposition  to  re- 
nounce creeds  and  take  the  Bible  as  their  only  authority,  is  not 
known  with  precision.  It  is  assumed  that  those  whose  repre- 
sentatives met  with  him  at  Little  Sister  in  February,  1831,  were 
in  sympathy  with  his  proposal.  These  were  Tranters  Creek,  Old 
Ford,  Grindle  Creek,  Kountrees  and  Little  Sister.  Since  a  con- 
siderable group  in  Smithwicks  Creek  were  subsequently  excluded 
for  accepting  the  teaching  of  his  fellow  worker,  Jeremiah  Leg- 
gett,  it  is  quite  probable  that  this  Church  is  counted  as  one  of 
the  seven.  The  movement  gathered  force  and  functioned  in  a 
Union  Meeting.  Jeremiah  Leggett  died  November  15,  1839. 
Clark  removed  to  Mississippi.  No  further  record  can  we  find  of 
Abraham  Congleton.  In  1845,  when  this  group  of  Disciples 
united  with  the  Bethel  Conference,  John  P.  Dunn  was  their  only 
preacher. 

The  story  of  Mrs.  Frank  W.  Dixon's  conversion  is  a  typical 
instance.  It  illustrates  the  accession  to  the  Disciple  group  of 
some  of  the  best  minds  among  the  Regular,  or  Primitive  Bap- 
tists. She  was  Miss  Sally  R.  Raspberry.  She  married  Dr.  F.  W. 
Dixon  of  Hookerton  Church  in  1860  and  founded  the  organized 
woman's  missionary  work  of  the  North  Carolina  Disciples  in 
1871.  She  told  of  her  conversion  Avhile  a  sixteen-year-old  col- 
lege girl  as  follows  :6 


C^yL^v^it^vv 


A/frrv\^ 


90  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

It  is  sweet  to  dwell  on  the  events  of  the  Reformation  during  the  period 
■  from  1827  to  1S40.  Especially  when  such  incidents  touch  upon  our  own  lives 
does  it  bring  a  rare  happiness  to  turn  again  to  memory's  pages.  As  the 
crucible  to  the  gold,  so  were  those  trying  years  to  the  souls  of  men.  Yet 
now  we  are  able  to  look  back  upon  them  with  gratitude  that  we  were  per- 
mitted to  participate  in  the  thrilling  experiences  and  persecutions. 
.  L-  ..J&uring  the  year  1854  I  was  attending  college  in  Aberdeen,  Mississippi. 
My  parents  were  zealous  members  of  the  Primitive  Baptist  Church.  To 
this  doctrine  I  had  listened,  and  in  this  church  I  had  been  reared.  Through 
respect  for  my  parents,  I  had  never  questioned  or  opposed  the  doctrine  of 
predestination  and  election.  Yet  under  its  stultifying  influence  my  mind 
seemed  steeped  in  deep  lethargy  on  religion.  If  God  in  his  own  good  time 
and  by  direct  interposition  would  quicken  my  soul  to  a  conviction  of  sin  in 
some  miraculous  way,  it  seemed  presumjituous  iu  me  to  interfere  or  oppose 
his  plans.  I  could  do  nothing  of  myself.  Thus  I  was  left  entirely  free  to 
indulge  in  social  frivolities  and  youthful  amusements. 

I  was  not  opposed  to  Christianity;  on  the  contrary,  when  I  witnessed  the 
happy  death  of  a  much-loved  schoolmaster,  who  was  a  devout  Christian,  I 
longed  to  die  such  a  death.  Yet  I  could  not  think  I  could  do  aught  toward 
obtaining  salvation.  So  delusive  had  been  that  doctrine,  that  its  influence 
had  benumbed  every  thought,  and  I  simply  awaited  God  's  divine  revelation 
to  my  heart. 

(The  Campbellites)  were  held  in  great  derision  at  this  time,  and  were 
not  permitted  the  use  of  any  of  the  six  churches  in  Aberdeen.  So,  for  the 
benefit  of  three  girls  in  school  who  were  members  of  the  Christian  Church, 
Bro.  Pinkney  Lawson  made  an  appointment  to  preach  in  the  college  hall. 
I  thus  for  the  first  time  listened  to  this  new  gospel. 

My  eyes  were  opened  to  the  revelation  of  God's  will  concerning  the  sal- 
vation of  the  world.  I  now  studied  his  word  as  never  before.  Bro.  Law- 
son  quoted  passage  after  passage  of  Scripture,  proving  man  to  be  a  free 
agent  to  accept  or  reject  Christ,  who  ever  in  loving  tones  called  upon  all  to 
accept  His  terms  of  salvation  and  follow  Him.  I  was  astonished  at  this 
new  doctrine. 

*  *  *  In  December  1854,  a  traveling  evangelist  (Dr.  Brown)  held  a 
protracted  meeting  in  Aberdeen.  The  few  Disciples  there  had  completed 
their  house  of  worship  at  this  time.  At  the  close  of  his  second  sermon  he 
held  forth  the  Bible,  and  exhorted  all  to  accept  its  teachings,  obey  its  com- 
mands and  to  follow  Christ.  I  felt  this  was  God's  plan,  and,  confessing  my 
faith  in  Him,  I  followed  His  example  in  being  baptized. 

Notes 

^'The  Life  and  Times  of  John  T.  Walsh,"  pages  73.  74.  ^Millennial  Har- 
binger, 1830,  oage  240.  3Ibid..  1834.  nage  44.  4N.  C.  Baptist  Interpreter. 
January  IS,  1834,  page  27.  BMillennial  Harbinger,  1851,  page  289.  «The 
Watch   Tower,   May  5,    1905.  .. 


Chapter  IX 

RISE   OF  DISCIPLES   AMONG  FREE   WILL   BAPTISTS 

The  growth  of  the  Disciple  contingent  within  the  Free  Will 
connection  is  a  long  story.  It  may  be  told  here  only  in  its  major 
emphases.  It  centers  in  the  Bethel  Conference  of  North  Caro- 
lina. 

The  Christian  Church,  or  ' '  Christian  Connection, ' '  had  arisen 
under  James  0 'Kelly.  Their  strength  was  mainly  in  the  cen- 
tral counties  of  the  State.  They  had  much  in  common  with 
Free  Will  Baptists.  They  cultivated  fraternal  relations.  From 
the  Free  Will  Conference  Minutes  of  1829,  the  earliest  such  rec- 
ords accessible,  we  learn  that  Richard  Gunter  and  John  Hayes, 
ministers  of  the  Christian  Connection,  were  "joyfully"  received 
as  messengers  by  the  Free  Will  Conference  of  that  year.1  And 
the  Conference  appropriated  to  them  ten  dollars  out  of  their 
general  fund,  supposedly  for  their  travelling  expenses.  Gunter 
and  Hayes  had  left  the  Baptist  ministry  for  the  ministry  of  the 
Christians.  Among  the  subsequent  messengers  from  the  Chris- 
tians in  these  conferences  were  Joel  Clifton  and  Littlejohn 
Utley.  On  motion  of  Robert  Bond,  in  1833,  the  Bethel  Confer- 
ence agreed  to  continue  a  correspondence  with  the  Christian 
Connection,  whom  the  Free  Wills  often  called  Christian  Bap- 
tists. It  is  probable  that  this  relation  of  Christians  and  Free 
Wills  promoted  in  the  Bethel  Conference : 

(1)  A  desire  for  the  union  of  all  Christians;  (2)  Emphasis 
of  the  name  Christian;  and  (3)  A  tendency  to  undermine  attach- 
ments for  a  formulated  Church  creed.  In  all  of  this  they  were 
preparing  the  ground  for  the  coming  of  the  Disciples. 

In  1829  the  Free  Will  Conference  had  25  Churches  scattered 
through  nine  Counties  of  North  Carolina,  and  one  in  South  Caro- 
lina, as  follows:2  Duplin,  Jones,  Lenoir,  Pitt,  Greene,  Craven, 
Beaufort,  Washington,  and  Wayne,  in  North  Carolina,  and 
Sumter,  in  South  Carolina.  Welche's  Creek  Church  in  Martin 
County  was  added  in  1830. 

There  was  a  division  of  the  Conference  in  1830. 3  Thirteen 
Churches  in  the  eastern  area  were  organized  into  Shiloh  Confer- 

91 


92  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

ence,  while  the  remaining  Churches  to  the  west  were  to  be  known 
as  the  Bethel  Free  Will  Baptist  Conference  of  North  Carolina. 
Subsequently,  it  seems  that  Shiloh  practically  lost  its  identity 
and  the  whole  area  was  operated  as  the  Bethel  Conference. 
There  was  dispute  about  the  Creed.  In  1831,  they  abolished  two 
articles  of  it,  the  tenth  and  eleventh.4  This  was  of  their  Creed 
of  1812,  worked  out  by  James  Roach  and  Jesse  Heath,  and 
adopted  that  year  in  their  annual  meeting  on  Little  Contentnea, 
in  Greene  County.  In  their  Meeting  of  1835  at  Wheat  Swamp^ 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  revise  the  Discipline,  to  be 
printed  with  the  amended  Creed,  if  adopted. r>  On  this  com- 
mittee were  Winsor  Dixon,  Robert  Bond,  and  Reuben  Barrow, 
all  of  whom  became  strong  Disciples  a  few  years  later.  In  1836 
their  General  Conference  met  at  Hookerton.  It  adopted  the 
revised  Discipline.  There  was,  however,  a  growing  demand  for 
the  abolition  of  the  Creed,  and  Discipline,  and  the  actual  taking 
of  the  Bible  as  the  only  standard  for  the  service  of  the  Church. 
Dixon,  Bond,  and  Barrow  regretted  in  later  years  the  leading 
part  they  had  taken  in  the  fashioning  of  the  Discipline  of  1835. 

This  new  emphasis  had  gained  such  strength  by  1839,  it  easily 
controlled  the  Conference.6  It  met  that  year,  November  7-10, 
at  Fellows  Chapel.  In  that  meeting  Jeremiah  Heath  moved  that 
all  ministers  of  the  Conference  be  required  to  confess  their  loyal 
adherence  to  Free  Will  Baptist  principles  and  practices,  and 
that  this  confession  be  recorded  in  their  minutes.  The  motion 
was  overwhelmingly  lost.  Heath,  in  resentment,  asked  that  his 
name  be  taken  from  the  roll.  A  contemporary  and  witness, 
Enoch  Holton  of  Broad  Creek,  father  of  Alonzo  J.  Holton,  said 
that  the  vote  was  eight  ministers  in  favor  of  the  motion,  to 
twenty  against  it.  Article  nine  of  their  Constitution  provided 
for  majority  rule.  It  may  be  said  that  this  was  the  definite  turn- 
ing of  the  Bethel  Conference  to  the  Disciples.  It  was  henceforth 
distinctly  of  their  spirit  and  outlook.  The  minority  group  did 
not  at  once  realign  themselves  but  continued  with  the  original 
Bethel  Conference  for  several  years. 

In  1841,  the  Free  Will  Baptist  designation  was  dropped  from 
the  name  of  the  Conference.  Thomas  J.  Latham  gave  the  circu- 
lar letter  for  that  Annual  Meeting,  held  at  Piney  Grove  Church, 
in  Sampson  County,  November  11-14.7  It  was  a  philippic 
against  Creeds,  and  a  plea  for  Christian  union,  and  Christian 


RISE    OF   DISCIPLES   AMONG   FREE    WILL    BAPTISTS  93 

liberty.  Latham  copied  the  Conference  minutes  into  a  ledger 
which  he  called  "The  Conference  Book."  Thus  in  1841,  he 
started  the  Disciples'  documentary  Convention  records. 

Reuben  Barrow's  circular  letter  in  the  Conference  of  1842, 
at  Welche's  Creek,  in  Martin  County,  re-enforced  Latham's 
initial  stand  against  creeds;  it  was  an  urgent  appeal  for  a 
united  front  for  the  Disciples. 

^At  Wheat  Swamp,  in  1843,  according  to  the  Free  Will  Baptist 
view,  "the  Volcanoe  bursted."8  In  1847,  when  the  Free  Wills 
reorganized  they  saw  their  loss  of  twenty-five  preachers  to  the 
Disciples.  Thomas  J.  Latham,  in  the  Conference  of  1843,  offered 
a  resolution  which  emphatically  deplored  denominational  divi- 
sion, declared  for  autonomy  of  the  local  church  in  faith  and 
practice,  and  concluded  as  follows  :_J 

"Resolved  that  such  churches  as  are  willing  to  unite  with  us 
on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  the  Rule  of  Faith  and  Discipline, 
reserving  to  themselves  the  right  to  interpret  the  same,  for  their 
own  regulations,  be  affectionately  invited  to  represent  themselves 
by  delegates  in  this  Conference." 

Concretely,  in  the  passage  of  this  resolution,  was  the  cleavage 
between  the  two  religious  groups. 

In  1844,  at  Hookerton,  in  the  Annual  Conference,  it  was  felt 
that  there  should  be  an  integration  of  those  in  the  State  having 
Disciple  convictions.  The  following  resolution  was  proposed  by 
Robert  Bond  and  passed  unanimously : 

Whereas  union  among  the  Disciples  of  Christ  is  desirable,  as  it  is  in 
accordance  with  the  will  of  God,  and  tends  to  the  advancement  of  Chris- 
tianity among  mankind :  and  whereas  this  Conference  believes  there  is  a 
number  of  churches  of  Christ  in  this  state,  that,  with  us,  take  the  Holy 
Scriptures  alone,  as  their  infallible  guide  in  religion : 

Resolved :  That  this  conference  propose  a  Convention  for  the  purpose 
of  effecting  a  union  between  the  Churches  of  Christ  represented  in  this 
Conference,  and  such  other  churches  of  Christ  as  are  willing  to  unite  on 
' '  The  Faith  once  delivered  to  the  Saints. ' ' 

Resolved:  That  the  said  Convention  be  at  Hookerton,  Greene  County, 
North  Carolina,  and  that  it  commence  on  the  Friday  before  the  First  Lord's 
Day  in  May,  1845. 

/"Resolved:  That  the  following  persons  be  requested  to  attend  said  Con- 
vention in  behalf  of  this  Conference,  viz. :  Elders  Thomas  J.  Latham,  John 
L.  Clifton,  Henry  Smith,  Benjamin  Parrott,  Robert  Bond,  William  Ma- 
gounds;  and  Brethren,  Seth  H.  Tyson,  Winsor  Dixon,  Reuben  Barrow, 
David   Lewis,   Jacob   McCotter,   Abraham   Baker,  Joel   Joyner,   Jr.,   Labari" 


94  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

Wilkinson,  and  Henry  D.  Lewis;   and  that  they  report  the  proceedings  of 
said  Convention  to  the  next  Conference,  for  its  satisfaction. 

Resolved,  that  Elder  Robert  Bond  be  requested  to  visit  such  Churches 
of  Christ  as  take  the  Holy  Scriptures  alone  as  their  Rule  of  Faith  and 
Practice,  and  invite  them  to  meet  us  by  delegates  in  said  Convention,  in 
order  to   promote  a   Christian  Union. 

Minutes  for  the  Annual  Meeting  of  1845,  report  results  of 
the  special  Convention  at  Hookerton  as  follows: 

Delegates  met  in  Hookerton,  Greene  County,  North  Carolina,  on  the  sec- 
ond of  May,  1845,  from  the  Bethel  Conference  and  also  from  the  Union 
Meeting  of  tneDisciples  of  Christ;  and  taking  into  consideration  the  im- 
portance of  Christian  Union  in  order  to  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  pure 
and  undented  religion,  after  a  free  interchange  of  views  on  both  sides, 
agreed,  that  the  Bethel  Conference  and  Union  Meeting  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ  should  unite  and  form  one  body,  upon  the  following  conditions : 
viz.,  That  the  annual  meeting  shall  hereafter  be  known  by  the  name  of 
"The  Bethel  Conference  and  Union  Meeting  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ"; 
that  the  Churches  conforming  to  said  "Bethel  Conference  and  Union  Meet- 
ing" shall  claim  no  other  name  than  that  of  Churches  of  Christ;  and  that 
they  shall  take  the  Bible  alone  as  their  only  Rule  of  Faith  and  Practice, 
and  discard  as  entirely  useless,  all  human  creeds,  traditions  or  command- 
ments of  uninspired  men. 

On  motion  of  Elder  John  L.  Clifton,  the  following  preamble  and  resolu- 
tions were  adopted  by  the  Conference   (at  Piney  Grove,  November,  1845). 

Whereas  this  Conference  deems  it  necessary  for  the  advancement  of 
Christianity,  that  we  dispense  with  the  Articles  of  Faith,  which  have  for- 
merly been  used  by  us,  and  that  we  take  the  whole  volume  of  the  Scriptures 
as  they  are :    viz.,  The  Bible,  to  be  our  Rule  of  Faith  and  Practice. 

Therefore,  Resolved:  that  we  take  the  Bible  to  be  our  only  rule  and 
guide  of  faith  and  practice;  and  that  hereafter  we  bear  the  appellation  of 
Christians,  or  Disciples  of  Christ;  and  our  churches,  the  Churches  of  Christ, 
and  that  our  annual,  or  General  Conference  bear  the  name  of  "Bethel  Con- 
ference and  Union  Meeting  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ";  and  that  we  rec- 
ommend these  resolutions  to  be  received  and  adopted  by  all  our  sister 
churches. 

Resolved,  that  the  above  preamble  and  resolutions,  passed  by  our  last 
Annual  Conference,  and  then  passed  by  the  Convention  at  Hookerton, 
Greene  County,  North  Carolina,  on  2nd  May,  1845,  be  received,  ratified  and 
adopted  by  this  conference. 

In  the  interval  between  the  "get-together  meeting,"  of  Fri- 
lay,  May  2,  1845,  and  the  convening  of  the  regular  Fall  Confer- 
ence it  was  necessary,  by  Disciple  polity,  that  the  local  churches, 
as  such,  ratify  the  actions  of  the  Hookerton  Convention,  if  these 
were  to  be  of  valid  governing  force.     In  old  minute  books  of 


RISE    OF    DISCIPLES    AMONG   FREE    WILL   BAPTISTS  95 

Churches  we  find  two  instances  of  how  this  was  effected  in  the 
local  Churches. 

September  13,  1845,  was  a  day  of  "quarterly  meeting"  in 
Welche's  Creek  Church,  in  Martin  County.  Following  is  the 
record  of  proceedings: 

Minutes  of  the  quarterly  meeting  held  on  the  second  Lord 's  day  and 
Satturday  before  in  September,  1845.  On  Satturday  Brother  William  Gard- 
ner opened  worship  by  singing  and  prayer.  Elder  Gurganus  followed  by 
exertation  and  then  reading  and  explaining  the  Book  of  Disciplin,  then 
conference  was  organized  and  ready  for  business,  then  a  long  contention 
as  to  argument  was  held  on  the  Disciplin,  then  on  motion  agreed  that  a 
vote  be  taken  on  the  Disciplin.  A  vote  was  taken  and  there  was  a  majority 
of  twenty-six  to  three.  Twenty-six  were  against  the  Disciplin  and  three 
were  in  favor  of  it  so  the  Disciplin  was  laid  down.  Then  delegates  were 
called  for  to  bear  the  letter  and  contribution  to  the  General  Conference 
which  was  Brother  David  Cooper  who  volunteered  himself  for  the  purpose. 
On  motion  agreed  that  one  dollar  be  sent  in  the  letter  to  the  general  fund. 
Conference  adjurned,  hymn  sung  and  all  dismissed  by  brother  Joseph  L. 
Waters. 

( In  the  Hookerton  Church  the  matter  had  been  settled  in  ad- 
vance as  the  following  from  the  Clerk's  record  by  Winsor  Dixon 
shows  3 

COn  Saturday  before  the  3rd  Lord's  day  in  Feby  1843J  The  Brethren 
and  sisters  assembled  at  the  meeting  house  in  Hookerton,  it  being  the  time 
of  Quarterly  meeting.  After  preaching  conference  was  opened.  On  motion 
of  El.  Wm.  MaGounds  agreed  that  sister  Nicy  Jones  receive  a  letter  of 
dismission  and  commendation.  Owing  to  some  division  in  regard  to  a 
church  discipline  the  pastor  of  the  church  (Robert  Bond),  moved  to  take 
the  voice  of  the  church  to  know  which  the  church  would  take,  the  written 
discipline  or  the  word  of  God,  upon  which  it  voted  to  take  the  word  of  God. 

Joel  Joyner,  Jr.,  of  old  Mill  Creek  Church,  was  a  participant 
in  these  transitions.  Later  he  made  his  home  in  De  Soto  County, 
Mississippi.  He  subscribed  for  the  Christian  Friend.  Writing 
to  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh,  the  editor,  in  August,  1854,  he  expressed 
appreciation  for  the  journal  and  was  reminiscent.     He  said:10 

I  was  anxious  for  our  connection  to  have  a  paper  of  this  kind,  even 
before  the  division  and  union  with  the  Disciples;  for  you  must  know  that 
I  was  first  a  "Free  Will  Baptist,"  having  united  with  that  denomination 
in  1833,  and  have  consequently  witnessed  some  of  the  effects  and  divisions 
produced  by  the  dawning  of  the  light  of  reformation.  Well  do  I  remem- 
ber the  apparent  alarm  produced  in  the  minds  of  some  of  the  brethren  in 
regard  to  what  they  called  "  Campbellism, "  when  there  was  a  resolution 
offered  in  one  of  our  "Conferences,"  making  a  demand  on  the  preachers 


96  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

to  answer  whether  or  not  they  would  preach  and  practice  the  doctrine  of 
the  "F.  W.  B., "  and  the  answer  of  some  that  they  should  endeavor  to 
preach  and  practice  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible.  Noble  resolution — glorious 
resolve.  May  our  ministering  brethren  ever  ' '  contend  for  the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints. ' ' 

The  sectarian  name  of  F.  W.  B.  was  once  dear  to  me,  as  were  also  the 
articles  of  faith  and  discipline,  and  not  until  after  a  considerable  struggle 
could  I  give  them  up;  but  when  I  saw  that  the  patience  of  some  of  our 
ministering  brethren  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  being  convinced  that  it 
was  not  Ci  Campbellism, "  per  se,  as  something  in  opposition  to  the  Bible, 
but  that  it  was  the  sacred  book  alone  which  we  were  called  upon  to  take 
as  our  only  rule  and  guide  of  faith  and  practice.  Then  it  was  that  I  will- 
ingly gave  up  that  dear  name  and  discarded  all  human  creeds. 

In  the  Convention  at  Piney  Grove,  in  1845,  after  the  formal 
union  of  the  two  wings  of  Disciples,  they  had  thirty  Churches, 
with  one  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  fifty-nine  members,  with 
twenty-six  preachers  on  their  roll.  The  thirty  Churches  were 
located  in  the  following  twelve  counties:  Beaufort  (eight 
churches)  ;  Carteret  (one)  ;  Craven  (one)  ;  Greene  (two)  ;  Hyde 
(one)  ;  Johnston  (one)  ;  Jones  (two)  ;  Lenoir  (three)  ;  Martin 
(one)  ;  Pamlico  (then  a  part  of  Craven),  (five)  ;  Pitt  (three)  ; 
Sampson  (two).  Of  this  original  group  of  thirty  churches, 
twelve  have  retained  their  identity  in  name  to  the  present. 
They  are :  Beaver  Dam,  in  Beaufort ;  Hookerton,  in  Greene ; 
Mill  Creek,  in  Johnston ;  Chinquapin  Chapel  and  Pleasant  Hill, 
in  Jones;  Kinston  and  Wheat  Swamp,  in  Lenoir;  Bay  Creek, 
Bethany ;  Broad  Creek,  and  Concord,  in  Pamlico ;  and  Roun- 
trees,  in  Pitt.  All  of  these  twelve,  except  Beaver  Dam,  Chin- 
quapin Chapel,  and  Concord  (Pamlico)  have  an  unbroken  Dis- 
ciple history  since  1845.  The  three  disappeared  for  a  while 
but  were  re-established.  Of  the  original  thirty,  Concord,  in 
Beaufort,  is  identical  with  the  present  Pantego ;  Fellows  Chapel, 
of  Pitt,  grew  into  Salem,  Riverside  and  Timothy;  and  Welche's 
Creek  in  Martin,  evolved  into  Poplar  Chapel  in  Martin,  and  into 
Christian  Hope,  east  of  the  Creek,  in  Washington  County.  Old 
Ford  in  Beaufort,  and  Oak  Grove  (Greene),  did  not  come  on 
the  roll  until  1846;  Oak  Grove  (Pitt),  was  entered  in  1848; 
Tuckahoe  (Jones),  in  1849;  and  Tranters  Creek  (Beaufort), 
1851. 

Following  is  the  original  Ministerial  Roll  of  1845 :  Thos.  C. 
Baker,  Robert  Bond,  John  L.  Clifton,  Jordan  Cox,  John  P. 
Dunn,  Wm.  R.  Fulshire,  Wm.  C.  Gardner,  John  B.  Gaylord, 


/t  '  /  </    i^t-n     fA\_.       ef-fC0>vf-c        X-^-^-^f  #/***%     ^e-i/e     %ajffZ- ~z*um 

&>•**■  i.   ^*_  j  *.  J    A^~,  ,_-'      /?  i^^     /^v      /bt-f.+  M,^        fit**™ 

C  '  r 


Facsimile,  Welche's  Creek  Church  Record 

This  is  a  section  of  the  Clerk's  records  of  Welche's  Creek  Church,  Mar- 
tin County,  which  shows  repudiation  of  the  "Discipline,"  and  the  practical 
ratification  of  the  merger  with  the  Disciples  on  the  part  of  the  local  Church. 
See  page  95,. 


/ 


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Title  Page.  Carolina   Christian  Monthly 


J 


RISE    OF   DISCIPLES    AMONG   FREE    WILL    BAPTISTS  97 

John  M.  Gurganus,  James  F.  Latham,  Thos.  J.  Latham,  Wm. 
Latham,  James  R.  Lewis,  Wm.  MaGounds,  Willie  T.  Mobley, 
Willie  T.  Nobles,  Benj.  Parrott,  John  Powell,  Wm.  H.  Schenk, 
F.  B.  Silverthorn,  Henry  Smith,  Nathan  Stancill,  Jacob  Tench, 
Seth  H.  Tyson,  Benj.  Weeks,  and  Nathaniel  Weeks;  total  twen- 
ty-six. 

The  next  year's  roll  showed  four  of  these  twenty-six  names 
dropped,  namely: — Jordan  Cox,  Wm.  C.  Gardner,  Willie  T. 
Mobley,  and  Benj.  Weeks.  Three  new  names  were  added,  how- 
ever, namely: — E.  S.  F.  Giles,  John  Jarman,  and  Dr.  John  A. 
Leggett. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  this  union  of  Free  Will  Baptists  and 
Disciples  in  North  Carolina  is  not  an  altogether  isolated  historical 
event.  They  also  united  in  the  region  of  Salem,  Washington 
County,  Indiana.11  This  was  a  factor  in  giving  Indiana  first 
place  as  a  State  in  numbers  of  Disciples  which  she  holds  today. 

It  should  be  noted  also  that  James  Abram  Garfield,  a  Disciple, 
and  America's  only  "Preacher-President,"  received  a  part  of 
his  elementary  training  in  the  Free  Will  Baptist  Seminary  at 
Chester,  Ohio.12 

Notes 

^"History  of  Free  Will  Baptists  in  N.  C,"  page  197.  2Ibid.,  page  198. 
3Ibid.,  page  203.  4Ibid..  page  213.  5Ibid.,  page  224.  6Ibid.,  pages  231,  232. 
7See  Appendix  A.  s"History  of  Free  Will  Baptists  in  N\  C,"  page  234. 
9Minutes,  Annual  Convention  of  il844.  10The  Christian  Friend  and  Bible 
Unionist,  issue  of  October.  1854,  page  150.  ""Life  of  Elder  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin," pages  163-1(15.  ^"Life  of  James  A.  Garfield,"  by  Russell  H.  Conwell, 
page  SI. 


Chapter  X 
UNION  MOVEMENT  OF  DISCIPLES 

The  early  North  Carolina  Disciples  in  forsaking  older  reli- 
gious orders,  suffered  the  natural  human  trepidation  in  breaking 
with  familiar  associations.  They  set  their  face  firmly  toward 
the  greater  freedom  in  Christ,  and  the  more  distinct  loyalty  to 
His  Word.  Their  objective  was  the  ground  whereon  they  could 
consistently  and  effectively  preach  and  practice  Christian  union. 
Their  motives  as  with  all  reformers  were  certain  to  be  misunder- 
stood.   For  this  they  were  prepared. 

The  reaction  on  the  part  of  the  dissenting  Free  Will  Baptists 
was  acute.  Of  their  ministers  immediately  declining  to  unite 
with  the  Free  Will-Disciple  Coalition,  nine  had  been  active  in  the 
old  Bethel  Conference.  These  were  John  Creekman,  Dickerson 
Dail,  Jeremiah  Heath,  John  F.  Jones,  Alfred  Moore,  Thomas 
Rives,  Theophilus  Slaughter,  Jacob  Utley  and  Jesse  Vause. 
Their  reactionary  influence  was  felt  in  the  Churches.  It  re- 
tarded and  restricted  consolidation  of  the  Disciples.  When  the 
Free  Will  Conference  was  reconstituted  at  Hoods  Swamp,  in 
1847,  it  was  called  the  "Original  Free  Will  Baptist  Confer- 
ence."1 This  was  done  to  designate  their  precedence  over  the 
Free  Will  Baptists,  of  New  England,  who  had  not  originated 
until  1780,  many  years  subsequent  to  the  rise  of  their  religious 
kindred  in  North  Carolina.  At  Hood's  Swamp  the  Free  Wills 
suffered  a  most  unhappy  division  over  the  erection  of  Free- 
Masonry  as  a  test  of  fellowship.  With  so  much  bitterness  and 
strife  current  among  the  Free  Wills  the  times  were  out  of  joint 
for  promotion  of  unity  in  that  field  by  Disciples. 

However,  the  Disciples  had  taken  a  high  stand  for  Christian 
union.  (1)  They  had  assumed  a  catholic  nomenclature: 
Churches  of  Christ  for  their  Congregations;  Disciples  of  Christ 
for  the  members  of  these  Congregations.  (2)  They  had  abol- 
ished the  Creed  and  Discipline  giving  liberty  in  the  interpreta- 
tion and  application  of  the  pure  Word.  (3)  They  had  declared 
for  the  autonomy  of  the  local  church,  and  for  immersion  as  the 
accepted  baptism;  in  this  occupying  common  ground  with  the 

98 


UNION    MOVEMENT    OF   DISCIPLES  99 

Baptists.  They  hoped  and  planned  that  their  religious  neigh- 
bors might  stand  with  them  on  this  catholic  platform. 

Since  the  Disciples  could  not  move  at  once  toward  union  with 
the  Free  Wills  for  the  reasons  above  given,  they  now  sought 
another  group  with  which  to  test  these  ideals.  The  contact  of 
the  Campbells  with  the  Chowan  Association  had  left  a  profound 
impression.  This  was  to  develop  through  the  years.  Thomas 
Waff,  of  Edenton,  ardent  friend  of  Thomas  Campbell,  became  a 
Chowan  Baptist  preacher.  Quinton  H.  Trotman,  most  influen- 
tial of  their  preachers  and  their  leading  evangelist,  preached 
baptism,  "for  the  remission  of  sins,"  with  all  the  clarity  and 
emphasis  of  the  Disciples.  Thomas  Meredith  had  at  last  so 
nearly  agreed  with  Alexander  Campbell  in  their  major  conten- 
tion, that  from  the  intelligent  Disciple  viewpoint  there  was  no 
difference  to  explain.  Surely  this  was  favorable  soil  for  the 
Disciples'  plea. 

At  the  Disciples'  Annual  Meeting  in  Kinston  in  1849,  there 
were  appointed  two  delegates  to  represent  the  Disciples  in  a 
like  session  of  the  Chowan  Association.  These  irenic  messengers 
were  John  P.  Dunn,  and  Josephus  Latham.  They  were  to  carry 
twenty  copies  of  the  Disciples'  Conference  Minutes.  At  the 
same  time  Benjamin  Parrott  and  Thomas  J.  Latham  were 
appointed  to  attend  the  next  assembly  of  the  Union  Baptist 
Advisory  Council,  on  a  like  errand.  That  is  another  story.  At 
this  Kinston  meeting  appeared  Dr.  S.  J.  Wheeler  to  tell  of  the 
new  girls'  school  of  the  Baptists  at  Murfreesboro  and  to  solicit 
patronage  for  it.  The  Disciples  rose  to  the  occasion  with  a  reso- 
lution which  stated  that  they  had  heard  Dr.  Wheeler's  statement 
with  pleasure,  recommended  Disciple  patronage,  provided  for 
two  Disciple  trustees  for  the  institution,  and  invited  Dr.  Wheeler 
to  cover  the  Disciple  field  in  solicitation  of  support.  The  Dis- 
ciple trustees  nominated  were  John  P.  Dunn  and  Thomas  J. 
Latham. 

In  1850,  Dr.  Wheeler  returned  to  the  Disciples'  meeting  at 
Rountrees  and  was  "seated"  as  Chowan's  fraternal  delegate.2 
In  1855,  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh,  J.  P.  Nevill,  and  George  Joyner 
were  Disciple  delegates  to  the  Chowan  Meeting.  Dr.  Walsh  the 
preceding  year  had  toured  the  Chowan  district  by  their  invita- 
tion, on  a  prolonged  evangelistic  and  "good  will"  mission.  The 
Biblical  Recorder,  Baptist  State  Organ,  strongly  opposed  this 


100  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

work  of  Dr.  Walsh,  carrying  articles  designed  to  frustrate  it. 
Walsh,  however,  was  cordially  received  everywhere  in  the  Dis- 
trict, by  Moderator,  pastors,  and  laity.  He  later  returned  upon 
their  invitation  for  further  service.  However,  the  pressure 
brought  to  bear  from  the  outside  by  the  Biblical  Recorder 
through  articles  by  Mark  Bennett,  James  J.  Rochelle,  and  Wil- 
liam Hill  Jordan,  not  to  mention  the  editor,  J.  J.  James,  created 
an  unfavorable  atmosphere  for  any  formal  union  which  might 
have  been  effected  between  the  Disciples  and  these  liberal  Bap- 
tists. Bitterness  was  engendered  by  the  press  of  both  sides,  as 
Dr.  Walsh  through  his  paper  replied  in  controversial  spirit. 
Chowan  preachers  standing  with  Walsh  were:  Quinton  H.  Trot- 
man,  Thomas  Waff,  D.  V.  Etheredge,  J.  N.  Hoggard,  A.  M. 
Craig,  R.  D.  Simpson,  W.  Leary,  and  J.  B.  Webb.  S.  J.  Wheeler 
strove  to  create  reaction  against  Disciples  in  the  district.  Mark 
Bennett  had  precipitated  the  issue  in  the  press.  In  the  Recorder 
of  January  20,  1859,  Bennett  said,  "I  believe  it  is  the  estab- 
lished belief  of  Baptists  generally,  in  North  Carolina,  and  prob- 
ably in  Virginia,  that  the  Chowan  Baptist  Association  ministers, 
are  in  the  main,  Campbellites. ' '  He  threw  down  the  gauntlet  to 
them  by  asking  that  they  give  "a  succint  account,  or  rather,  a 
contrast  between  Chowan  Doctrine  and  Campbellism."  In  the 
extended  newspaper  discussion  evoked  by  this  challenge,  the 
Chowan  friends  of  the  Disciples  asked  Bennett  to  define  ' '  Camp- 
bellism." They  charged  Bennett  with  high  Calvinism.  To 
make  the  issue  clear,  R.  D.  Simpson  summarized  thus  hypothet- 
ically  :3 

1.  That,  if  to  believe  and  teach  the  word  of  God,  is  our  only  rule  of 
faith  and  practice,  be  "Campbellism,"  then  we  are  "Campbellites." 

2.  If  to  believe  and  teach  that  the  Holy  Spirit  operates  through  the 
Gospel  in  the  conviction  and  conversion  of  sinners,  be  "Campbellism," 
then  we  are  "Campbellites." 

3.  If  to  believe  and  teach  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  received  by  faith,  and 
dwells  richly  in  the  hearts  of  the  saints,  be  "Campbellism,"  then  we  are 
' '  Campbellites. » ' 

4.  If  to  believe  and  teach  that  the  heart  is  purified  by  faith,  and  that  a 
change  of  heart,  repentance  unto  life,  and  a  profession  of  faith  in  Christ 
are  prerequisites  to  baptism,  be  "Campbellism,"  then  we  are  "Camp- 
bellites. ' ' 

5.  And  if  to  believe  that  baptism  is  for  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience, 
for  the  "formal  remission  of  sins,"  be  "Campbellism,"  then  we  are 
' '  Campbellites. ' ' 


UNION    MOVEMENT    OF   DISCIPLES  101 

6.  If  to  believe  and  teach  that  the  blood  of  Christ  only  truly  and  really 
washes   away   sins,   be   ' '  Campbellism, ' '  we   are   ' '  Campbellites. ' '     And, 

Lastly,  If  to  believe  and  teach  future  rewards  and  punishments,  be 
' '  Campbellism, ' '  then  we  are  ' '  Campbellites. ' ' 

The  Chowan  Association  met  in  May,  1859,  at  Mt.  Carmel  in 
Northhampton  County.  Pressure  from  outside  and  the  leader- 
ship of  S.  J.  Wheeler  from  within  forced  a  reaction.  So  in  this 
meeting  they  acknowledged  the  seventeen  articles  of  faith  upon 
which  the  Association  had  been  founded  in  1806,  and  as  amended 
by  them  in  1849.4  The  amendment  of  their  seventh  article  at 
Mt.  Carmel  was  significant  as  indicating  their  acceptance  of  a 
Disciple  principle  which  had  been  largely  discussed.  In  it  they 
professed  to  believe  that  regeneration,  "is  effected  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Word  of 
God."  This  was  precisely  the  point  for  which  Disciples  had 
earnestly  contended.  Editor  James  of  the  Recorder  objected  to 
this  amendment  "as  liable  to  a  construction  which  Baptists  have 
often  refused  to  admit  as  true  doctrine." 

Disciples,  with  their  spirit  and  ideals  of  Christian  union,  could 
not  and  would  not  crystallize  this  friendship  of  the  Chowan 
leaders  into  partisan  loyalty.  The  Disciples  had  no  heart  to 
fulminate  issues  of  a  sect.  So  the  old  alignment  of  these  pro- 
gressive Baptists  remained. 

A  different  story  was  that  of  the  relations  of  Disciples  and 
Union  Baptists.  The  Union  Baptists,  as  a  group,  had  arisen 
under  James  W.  Hunnicutt,  of  Lunenburg  Court  House,  Vir- 
ginia.5 He  had  imbibed  the  tenets  of  the  celebrated  Robert  Hall. 
He  edited  a  paper  called  The  Christian  Banner.  His  movement 
was  to  unite  all  of  the  open-communion  Baptists  in  one  body. 
He  had  formerly  been  a  popular  Methodist  minister  in  Southern 
Virginia.  In  his  pamphlet  of  1843,  setting  forth  his  belief  he 
said:  "We  believe  and  maintain  that  it  is  the  scriptural  privi- 
lege and  Christian  duty,  of  all  Christians,  Godly,  and  truly  pious 
persons,  to  unite  in  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  regard- 
less of  any  sectarian  or  denominational  distinction,  provided 
that  none  be  invited  to  commune  but  those  who  support  a  good 
moral  and  Christian  character  in  their  own  church  or  churches. ' ' 
He  charged  the  Baptists  with  inconsistency  in  having  fellowship 
with  Pedobaptists  in  preaching  and  prayer  while  denying  them 
the  sacramental  cup.     He  argued  that  since  the  Lord's  Supper 


102  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

was  instituted  before  Christian  baptism,  baptism  should  be  no 
test  for  communion ;  that,  since  the  Apostles  were  not  required 
to  submit  to  Christian  baptism,  and  there  will  be  no  baptismal 
bar  for  communion  in  Heaven,  therefore,  communion  here 
should  be  freed  from  such  discriminations. 

Alexander  Campbell  visited  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunnicutt  in  their 
Lunenburg  home  in  April,  1845.  His  associates  in  travel  on 
this  visit  were  Silas  Shelburne,  R.  L.  Coleman,  and  Dr.  Chester 
Bullard.  Campbell  said  they  ' '  spent  a  very  pleasant  night  with 
Elder  Hunnicutt  and  his  amiable  lady  at  their  residence  and 
found  him  a  very  companionable  and  clever  gentleman,  zealously 
engaged  in  founding  an  Academy  for  the  education  of  young 
men  as  preparatory  to  a  college  course  of  instruction." 

Hunnicutt  evangelized  in  Eastern  North  Carolina  before  the 
War  Between  the  States.  He  established  Churches  in  the  coun- 
ties of  Lenoir,  Beaufort,  Carteret,  Craven,  Duplin,  Greene, 
Jones,  Pender,  Sampson  and  Wayne.6  In  these  ten  counties,  in 
1858,  there  were  fifty  Union  Baptist  Churches  with  over  four 
thousand  three  hundred  members.  During  the  Civil  War,  Hun- 
nicutt who  was  a  Unionist  offended  his  Confederate  constituents 
by  his  political  attitude.  The  leadership  passed  to  Bushrod  W. 
Nash,  another  Virginian,  but  a  Southerner  in  sentiments.  Nash 
had  come  to  North  Carolina  in  1857.  His  creed  and  constitution 
supplanted  that  of  Hunnicutt  in  the  government  of  the  Church. 
The  creed  consisted  of  thirteen  articles.  Article  II,  set  forth 
a  principle  for  which  Disciples  had  pled.     It  was  as  follows: 

"We  believe  that  God  is  the  author  of  the  Holy  Bible;  and 
that  its  teachings  constitute  the  only  infallible  doctrine  for  the 
government  of  the  Church."  In  1870  most  of  the  Union  Bap- 
tist leaders  made  an  ingenuous  application  of  this  Article.  The 
old  order  was  broken  up.  Many  of  them  came  to  the  Disciples. 
In  1887,  they  had  but  fifteen  churches  and  535  members.7  Five 
years  later  they  had  lost  two  more  churches  and  their  member- 
ship had  declined  to  442. 

Nash  continued  with  a  remnant.  He  called  it  the  Baptist 
Church  of  North  Carolina.  He  sought  fusion  with  Free  Will 
Baptists,  and  finally  united  with  Mt.  Zion  Association.  He  died 
in  1911.  The  last  standing  Church  property  of  this  group  was 
old  Lousan  Swamp.    It  burned  after  the  death  of  Nash.    In  its 


UNION    MOVEMENT    OF   DISCIPLES  103 

ashes  is  the  last  material  vestige  of  Nash's  movement  among 
the  Baptists. 

Peter  Howell  was  a  Union  Baptist,  a  convert  of  Hunnicutt 
He  was  a  native  of  Charlotte  County,  Virginia.  Howell  made 
his  home  later  at  Murfreesboro,  North  Carolina.  He  was  a 
preacher,  an  eccentric  walking  itinerant,  evangelizing  through- 
out the  eastern  counties.  His  journal,  called  Life  and  Travels 
of  Peter  Howell,  was  printed  in  New  Bern,  in  1849.  It  is  so 
rare,  so  quaint,  and  so  interesting  in  its  simple,  human  details 
bearing  on  the  North  Carolina  life  of  that  period,  that  it  is 
highly  prized  by  collectors  of  Caroliniana.  His  contacts  with 
Disciples  were  frequent.  He  preached  in  their  churches  at  Con- 
cord (Beaufort  County),  Pleasant  Hill,  Little  Swift  Creek,  and 
Kinston.  Some  of  the  preachers  he  saw  were :  Quinton  Trot- 
man,  Thomas  Waff,  Amos  J.  Battle,  Henry  Smith,  and  H.  D. 
Cason.  He  did  not  understand  the  Disciples'  belief  as  shown 
by  the  following  comment  which  he  made  on  his  contact  with 
Henry  Smith  :8 

"As  I  passed  down  towards  the  Shipyard  (in  New  Bern)  to 
make  arrangements  for  preaching  there  I  was  called  in  to  see 
Elder  H.  Smith,  who  seemed  desirous  from  the  tenor  of  his  dis- 
course to  convince  me  of  the  necessity  of  baptism  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins.  I  told  him  I  thought  it  would  take  the  blood  of 
Christ  to  wash  away  sins,  and  that  faith  was  the  condition  of 
salvation  from  sin." 

The  loss  of  the  Confederacy  was  the  triumph  of  the  Union 
Cause.  Men  ever  find  suggestions  in  great  current  events. 
Among  Disciples  at  this  time  there  was  renewed  emphasis  on  the 
eminent  desirability  of  union  among  Christians.  North  Carolina 
Disciples  met  in  1867,  in  their  annual  Convention  at  Corinth 
Church.  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh  presented  the  following  resolution 
there  which  was  unanimously  adopted. 

Resolved :  By  the  ministers  and  messengers  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 
in  Conference:  That  in  view  of  the  expressed  desire  made  by  the  Union 
Baptists,  of  North  Carolina  for  Christian  Union  among  the  immersionists 
of  this  State,  we  appoint  delegates  to  a  Convention  to  be  held  at  Hooker- 
ton  to  take  into  consideration  the  subject  of  uniting  upon  the  Bible  alone, 
acknowledging  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  one  faith, 
one  hope,  one  baptism,  one  Spirit,  and  one  body;  said  delegates  to  meet 
in   Convention   with   other   delegates   appointed   by   the   Grand    Council   of 


10-i  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

Union  Baptists  and  delegates  from  other  parties  who  may  desire  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  good  work  of  uniting  the  Lord's  people;  and  that  the  Grand 
Council  and  Free  Will  Conference  be  furnished  with  a  copy  of  this  resolu- 
tion. 

Eesolved:  That  we  hail  with  joy  every  movement  having  for  its  object 
the  union  of  all  Christians,  and  cordially  invite  the  faithful  everywhere 
to  unite  with  that  faithful  band  of  Disciples  now  numbering  over  half  a 
million  in  this  country. 

To  bear  these  resolutions  Josephus  Latham  and  Dr.  Frank  W. 
Dixon  were  commissioned  to  attend  the  Grand  Council  of  Union 
Baptists. 

The  Free  Will  Conference  met  that  year  at  Hart's  Meeting 
House,  in  Greene  County.  Disciple  representatives  present  to 
promote  the  "Union  Convention"  were  George  Joyner  and 
Amos  J.  Battle.  Irvin  Jones  was  there  from  the  Union  Baptists. 
Following  is  a  minute  of  this  meeting:9  "On  motion  of  Elder 
0.  P.  Humber,  Elder  I.  Jones  was  allowed  to  state  the  object  of 
his  visit  which  was  to  invite  us  to  send  delegates  to  a  conven- 
tion to  be  held  at  Hookerton,  Greene  County,  North  Carolina, 
commencing  Friday,  before  the  Fifth  Sunday  in  December,  1867, 
for  the  purpose  of  trying  to  unite  the  three  denominations,  viz : 
the  Union  Baptists,  Disciples,  and  Free  Will  Baptists."  The 
Conference  accepted  the  invitation  and  named  the  delegates. 

Following  is  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  "Union  Con- 
vention ' ' : 

The  delegates  appointed  to  the  Union  Convention  on  Friday,  27th  De- 
cember, 1867,  at  Hookerton,  Greene  County,  North  Carolina,  from  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  from  the  Free  Will  Baptist  Con- 
ference, and  from  the  Grand  Council  of  the  Union  Baptists,  assembled  in 
the  Union  Baptist  meeting  house;  and  after  singing  and  prayer  by 
Elder  B.  W.  Nash,  elected  Elder  A.  J.  Battle  Moderator,  and  Elders  R.  K. 
Hearne  and  Alfred  Moore  assistant  Moderators;  and  Elder  Josephus 
Latham  was  appointed  Secretary. 

Delegates  present  from  Free  Will  Baptist  Conference:  Elder  Rufus  K. 
Hearne. 

Delegates  from  Grand  Council  of  Union  Baptists:  Elder  B.  W.  Nash, 
Irvin  Jones,  Alfred  Moore,  and  C.  C.  Stilly. 

Delegates  from  Annual  Meeting  of  Disciples  of  Christ:  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh, 
and  Elders  A.  J.  Battle,  Josephus  Latham,  and  J.  J.  Harper. 

On  motion,  of  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh,  a  committee  of  three  was  appointed  to 
draft  a  Preamble  and  Resolutions  for  the  action  of  the  convention.  Dr. 
J.  T.  Walsh,  and  Elders  B.  W.  Nash  and  R.  K.  Hearne,  formed  that  Com- 
mittee. 


UNION    MOVEMENT    OF    DISCIPLES  105 

After  being  absent  a  short  time  the  Committee  reported  in  part,  the 
following  Preamble  and  Resolutions: — 

Whereas,  Our  Lord  prayed  that  all  his  followers  might  be  one  as  he  and 
the  Father  are  one;  and  also  taught  by  his  Apostles  the  unity  of  his  body, 
the  Church,  representing  it  as  one  family,  one  temple,  one  kingdom,  and 
one  organization;  and  whereas  the  Union  and  co-operation  of  the  Lord's 
people  is  important  in  view  of  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  driving  back  the  tide  of  infidelity  with  which  the  church  and  the 
world   are  threatened, — Therefore, 

Resolved,  1st,  That  we  will  take  the  word  of  God  for  our  sole  rule  of 
faith  and  practice. 

Resolved,  2d,  That  we  regard  the  Scriptures  as  teaching  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  repentance  towards  God,  and  baptism  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  as  necessary  to  the  remission  of  past  sins; 
and  that  this  faith  comes  by  hearing  the  Word  of  God,  or  the  Gospel;  and 
that  this  repentance  is  a  profound  sorrow  for  past  sins,  and  leads  to  a 
reformation  of  life;  and  that  this  baptism  is  an  immersion  into  Christ,  the 
Great  Head  of  the  Church. 

Resolved,  3d,  That  we  regard  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord 's  Supper  as 
belonging  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  that  all  Christians  have  the  right  to 
commune;  but  that  he  that  eateth  and  drinketh  unworthily  eateth  and 
drinketh  damnation  to  himself,  not  discerning  the  Lord's  body. 

The  foregoing  resolutions,  after  being  freely  and  fully  discussed,  were 
unanimously  adopted  by  all  the  delegates  in  the  convention.  (Elder  S. 
Carrow,  not  being  present  when  the  2d  Resolution  was  adopted,  protests 
against  it,  and  desires  his  protest  entered  on  the  Minutes.) 

Saturday,  10  o  'clock  the  Convention  met,  prayer  by  Elder  Irvin  Jones. 

On  motion  of  Elder  R.  K.  Hearne,  Elder  Henry  Dixon  was  received  as  a 
delegate  from  the  Free  Will  Baptists. 

Elder  Gideon  Allen,  Dr.  F.  W.  Dixon,  and  W.  J.  Moye  arriving,  took 
seats  as  delegates  from  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Disciples. 

Elder  Sylvester  Carrow  also  arrived,  and  took  his  seat  as  a  delegate  from 
the   Grand   Council   of   the   Union   Baptists. 

The  Committee,  having  completed  their  report,  submitted  the  following 
resolutions  through  their  chairman,  Dr.  Walsh: 

Resolved,  4th,  That  while  we  do  not  regard  the  washing  the  saints'  feet 
as  an  ordinance  of  the  Christian  Church,  still  we  look  upon  it  as  a  good 
work,  designed  to  teach  the  Lord's  people  the  great  lesson  of  humility;  and 
that  all  Christians  should  be  at  liberty  to  assemble  when,  where,  and  as 
often  as  they  please  for  this  purpose. 

Resolved,  5th,  That  we  regard  all  denominational  names  as  unscriptural, 
and  tending  to  divide  the  Lord 's  people ;  and  that  we  will  bear  the  name 
of  Him,  ' '  of  whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named, ' '  and 
like  the  disciples  at  Antioch,  be  called  Christians. 

Resolved,  6th,  That  we  regard  each  Christian  congregation  as  an  inde- 
pendent body,   having  its   own   scriptural   officers,   and   regulating  its   own 


106  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

internal  affairs;  but  at  the  same  time  constituting  a  constituent  part  of  the 
body  of  Christ,   or  universal  church. 

Resolved,  7th,  That  it  is  the  prerogative  of  all  Christian  congregations 
to  meet  in  Annual  Assemblies  by  their  delegates  for  general  co-operation  in 
Missionary  or  evangelical  work,  and  for  the  accomplishment  of  other  pur- 
poses of  a  general  character,  which  cannot  so  well  be  done  by  churches  in 
their  individual  or  congregational  capacity. 

Resolved,  8th,  That  as  "all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God, 
and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  and  instruction 
in  righteousness;  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  fur- 
nished unto  all  good  works ' ' ;  are  not  all  creeds,  disciplines,  and  confes- 
sions of  faith  not  only  unnecessary  but  tending  to  bind  the  consciences  and 
divide  the  Lord's  people? 

The  4th  Resolution  was  voted  for  by  the  Disciples  and  the  Union  Bap- 
tists, and  voted  against  by  the  Free  Will  Baptists. 

The  vote  on  the  5th  Resolution  stood  thus:  the  Disciples  voting  affirma- 
tively, and  the  Free  Will  and  Union  Baptists  negatively. 

The  6th  and  7th  Resolutions  were  read  and  adopted.  On  the  8th  Resolu- 
tion, the  Disciples  in  the  affirmative,  and  the  Union  and  Free  Will  Baptists 
in  the  negative. 

The  above  resolutions  were  fully  and  freely  discussed   separately. 

The  discussion  on  all  the  resolutions  on  both  days,  was  conducted  in  the 
best  Christian  spirit,  and  not  a  word  was  uttered  intending  to  wound  any 
brother's  feelings;  and  on  motion  of  Elder  B.  W.  Nash,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  this  Convention,  composed  of  Union  Bap- 
tists, Free  Will  Baptists  and  Disciples,  do  heartily  recommend  an  increased 
love  and  affection  toward  each  other,  recognizing  each  as  a  brother  in  the 
Lord,  and  hoping  that,  though  we  may  never  meet  again  on  earth,  we  may 
all  meet  at  last  in  heaven — 

"When  in  that  holy,  happy  land, 
We  '11  no  more  take  the  parting  hand. ' ' 

The  spirit  of  this  Congress  was  so  good  and  the  issues  so 
clearly  drawn  there  was  afterwards  a  more  sympathetic  and  in- 
telligent appreciation  between  the  groups.  Within  the  next 
decade  most  of  the  Union  Baptist  leaders  united  with  the  Dis- 
ciples, namely:  J.  L.  Winfield,  Irvin  Jones,  Jesse  T.  Davis,  A. 
C.  Hart,  I.  L.  Chestnut,  S.  W.  Sumrell,  and  C.  W.  Howard.  A 
later  recruit  to  the  Disciples  from  this  fold  was  J.  T.  Grubbs. 

With  the  "Original  Free  Wills"  no  union  was  effected.  A 
minute  of  their  1868  Conference  said:10  "On  motion  of  Wm. 
May  we  take  the  vote  whether  or  not  this  conference  is  willing 
to  make  any  concessions  in  their  name  in  order  to  unite  with 
the  Union  Baptists.  It  was  voted  that  we  make  no  concessions." 
The  agitation  for  union  was  persistent  from  Disciples  and  Union 


UNION    MOVEMENT    OF   DISCIPLES  107 

Baptists  so  that  it  is  recorded  in  the  Free  Will  Minutes  of 
1870 111  ' '  On  motion  of  Elder  James  Moore,  we  dismiss  the  sub- 
ject of  uniting  with  other  denominations. ' ' 

J.  L.  Winfield  gave  perhaps  the  most  comprehensive  state- 
ment ever  offered  for  the  failure  of  union  with  the  Free  Wills. 
He  expressed  therewith  the  Disciples'  characteristic  passion  for 
Christian  union.     He  said:12 

There  are  only  a  few  points  that  prevent  the  Free  Will  Baptists  and 
Disciples  from  forming  a  union,  not  enough  by  any  means  to  keep  them 
divided.  The  following  are  some  of  the  points  in  which  they  disagree: 
(1)  The  Disciples  claim  that  Christ  only  founded  one  Church — the  Church 
of  Christ,  and  when  a  person  accepts  Christ  he  becomes  a  member  of  the 
one  Church,  and  not  a  member  of  any  ' '  branch, ' '  because  Disciples  are 
branches  themselves.  The  Baptists  claim  that  baptism  brings  a  person  into 
the  Baptist  Church  and  it  has  "many  branches."  (2)  The  Disciples  claim 
that  inasmuch  as  Disciples  belong  to  a  divine  institution  they  should  be 
governed  by  a  divine  law,  exclusively.  The  Baptists  recognize  a  human 
law,  or  a  creed  gotten  up  by  uninspired  men.  (3)  The  Baptists  claim  that 
feet-washing  is  a  Gospel  ordinance,  and  the  Disciples  claim  it  is  only  a 
' '  good  work. ' '  When  these  points  are  reconciled  we  shall  have  union  and 
not  before.  But  shall  two  bodies  as  near  together  as  Disciples  and  Baptists 
remain  divided  when  a  few  concessions  would  bring  them  together?  Shall 
we  not,  brethren,  for  the  sake  of  converting  the  world,  and  for  the  sake  of 
destroying  sectism,  and  for  the  sake  of  apostolic  Christianity,  labor  and 
pray  that  some  scriptural  means  will  bring  us  into  one  harmonious  body? 

Regarding  the  Union  Baptists,  J.  L.  Winfield  gave  a  more 
cheerful  observation.  He  said  in  October,  1872 :13  "It  is  con- 
ceded by  all  who  have  any  knowledge  of  what  has  transpired, 
that  a  union  has  been  effected  between  the  Disciples  of  Christ 
and  the  most  prominent  Union  Baptist  Churches  in  North  Caro- 
lina." He  declared  that  he  had  sacrificed  no  principle  in  com- 
ing from  the  Union  Baptists  to  the  Disciples.  A  remnant 
continued  after  Winfield 's  day,  under  B.  W.  Nash,  but  have 
since  disappeared  entirely.  Winfield  said  of  his  last  meeting 
with  them: 

During  the  Grand  Council  which  convened  at  Russell 's  Creek,  Carteret 
County,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  to  renounce  all  human  creeds  and  rec- 
ognize the  Holy  Bible  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  The  com- 
mittee on  resolutions  which  consisted  of  eleven  influential  men  said:  "That 
all  human  creeds  and  confessions  of  faith  separate  from  the  word  of  God, 
were  not  only  non-essential  but  were  detrimental  to  primitive  Christianity 


108  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

and    would    forever    keep    Christians    divided — and    ignore    the    prayer    of 
Christ,  '  that  all  should  be  one. '  ' ' 

Notes 

^'History  of  Free  Will  Baptists  in  N.  C,"  page  236.  2Minutes,  Disciples' 
Annual  Meeting,  1850.  3Christian  Baptist  (Walsh),  April.  1859,  paee  110. 
"Ibid.,  July,  1859,  pages  207-211.  BMillennial  Harbinger,  1845,  pages  339-341. 
"Christian  Baptist  (Walsh),  Feb.,  1859,  page  47.  ^Union  Baptist  Minutes, 
1.887.  8"L,ife  and  Travels  of  Peter  Howell,"  page  263.  9"History  of  Free 
Will  Baptists  in  N.  C,"  page  269.  10Ibid.,  page  271.  "Ibid.,  page  277. 
12Watch   Tower,    Jan.,    1S78,    pages   12,    13.      13Ibid.(    October,    1872,    page   19. 


Chapter  XI 

EARLY  EVANGELIZATION 

The  environment  of  the  first  Disciples  of  Christ  in  North 
Carolina  was  plastic.  Therefore,  a  vigorous  evangelism  was  of 
first  importance.  Hence  one  of  their  first  co-operative  projects 
was  the  sustaining  of  a  general  evangelist.  A  Central  Commit- 
tee composed  of  John  P.  Dunn,  Thomas  J.  Latham  and  Charles 
Joyner  were  to  raise  and  administer  the  evangelizing  fund. 
This  Committee  was  appointed  at  the  Disciples'  Annual  State 
Meeting  at  Post  Oak  Meeting  House,  on  Swift  Creek,  in  Craven 
County,  in  1846.  As  a  co-operative  feature  each  church  was  to 
appoint  her  own  local  solicitor  and  treasurer,  who  were  to  for- 
ward the  collected  funds  to  the  Central  Committee  when  the 
evangelist  entered  the  field.  This  Committee  reported  at  the 
next  annual  meeting  that  the  churches  had  liberally  responded. 
But  as  no  "suitable  evangelist"  had  been  available,  they  had 
not  called  for  remittance  of  the  money.  So  the.  matter  drifted 
for  a  few  years. 

As  the  need  was  very  great,  in  December,  1850,  leading  Dis- 
ciples from  the  more  aggressive  churches  held  a  delegate  "Co- 
operation Meeting"  at  Hookerton.  They  employed  Josephus 
Latham  and  Jesse  P.  Nevill,  a  stranger  from  without  the  State, 
to  evangelize,  under  their  auspices  until  the  next  State  meeting. 
At  the  State  meeting  in  1851,  this  program  was  commended  and 
a  call  was  made  for  another  "Co-operation  Meeting"  to  be  held. 
This  was  to  be  in  Kinston  in  November,  1851,  and  for  the  fur- 
therance of  evangelism. 

In  the  meantime  John  P.  Dunn  did  some  notable  evangelizing 
on  his  own  account.  This  was  chiefly  in  Pitt  County  at  Roun- 
trees,  and  Tyson's  Meeting  House,  which  later  became  Antioch 
(Farmville),  and  at  Oak  Grove,  Greene  County,  which  later 
became  Corinth,  Pitt  County.  This  church  was  originally  of 
the  Regular  Baptists,  in  the  Contentnea  Association.  Alfred 
Moye,  father  of  Moses  Tyson  Moye,  who  lived  about  six  miles 
from  Farmville  in  the  Oak  Grove  Community,  in  writing  to  his 

109 


110  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

son  Moses,  then  in  Wake  Forest  College,  on  October  27,  1849, 
said  r1 

Revivals  are  the  order  of  the  day  in  our  section.  There  has  been  preach- 
ing at  the  Grove  commencing  Friday,  the  19th,  and  ending  last  evening, 
four  days  and  five  nights,  and  there  have  been  ten  baptisms  in  the  last 
month  in  the  Christian  denomination,  namely:  Henry  Horn  and  Wife, 
Mary  Hooker,  Sally  Turnage,  Carolina  Baker,  Thomas  Jolly  and  daughter, 
Timothy  Baker,  Arthur  Dennis,  Dina  Hodges,  and  your  relative,  Elizabeth 
Belcher.  *  *  *  I  have  never  seen  such  a  disposition  manifested  by  the 
people  to  attend  preaching. 

Writing  his  son  again,  October  23,  1850,  he  said:2 

Our  Conference  has  just  closed  at  Rountrees  Meeting  House  with  much 
gratification  and  pleasure  at  the  union,  love  and  friendship  which  abounded 
throughout  our  deliberations  and  the  pleasing  intelligence  of  the  flourishing 
state  of  Religion  within  the  bounds  of  our  fraternity.  No  less  than  459 
have  been  received  into  the  churches  by  baptism  in  one  year  and  in  all 
other  respects  there  is  peace  and  harmony  and  a  zealous  disposition  mani- 
fested to  persevere  in  this  glorious  work  of  the  Lord  *  *  *  we  look 
forward  to  a  protracted  meeting  which  is  to  commence  at  Tison's  Meeting 
House  on  the  first  Saturday  in  next  month  with  anxious  desire,  with  pleas- 
ing hope,  that  many  more  of  our  respected  friends,  relatives,  and  acquaint- 
ances will  gladly  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  openly  profess 
before  men  their  love  of  Christ,  and  be  admitted  into  his  Church  on  earth. 

While  John  P.  Dunn  was  the  leading  evangelist  at  this  period, 
others  were  assisting  in  itinerant  preaching  to  scattered  groups. 
Henry  Smith  preached  for  twelve  churches,  each  of  which  he 
could  visit  only  once  in  three  months.  His  son-in-law,  John  B. 
Gaylord,  removed  from  New  Bern,  and  located  in  Kinston, 
where  he  was  the  Disciples'  first  resident  minister.  Gaylord 
died  in  January,  1851.  Robert  Bond,  who  had  been  identified 
with  the  Disciples  since  1839,  was  one  of  their  active  ministers. 
He  lived  near  Kinston.    He  died  in  April,  1849. 

With  the  passing  of  these  leaders  the  Disciples'  Co-operation 
saw  the  need  of  the  additional  help  of  a  general  evangelist.  The 
call  was  sent  through  the  Disciple  papers  of  largest  local  appeal 
and  circulation  in  contiguous  areas.  These  were  the  Christian 
Intelligencer  published  at  Scottsville,  Virginia,  by  E.  L.  Cole- 
man, and  the  Christian  Union  and  Religious  Review,  edited  by 
E.  E.  Orvis  at  New  London,  Pennsylvania.  Following  is  their 
appeal  as  it  appeared  in  the  last  named  journal  :3 


EARLY   EVANGELIZATION  111 

AN  EVANGELIST  WANTED 
Bro.  Orvis: — The  Disciples  in  North  Carolina,  composing  the  Co-opera- 
tion of  Churches  in  Lenoir  County,  and  vicinity,  would  say  through  the 
Union  and  Review,  to  the  Preachers  of  the  Reformation  in  other  States,  that 
they  wish  to  employ  an  able  Preacher  of  the  Ancient  Order,  to  labor  for 
the  Lord  in  this  most  beautiful  gospel  field.  We  are  able  and  willing  to 
sustain  any  one  who  will  come.  The  work  has  commenced,  and  hundreds 
of  our  most  influential  citizens  have  obeyed  from  the  heart  that  form  of 
doctrine.  But  some  who  were  instrumental  in  this  good  work,  and  greatly 
beloved  by  the  saints,  now  repose  in  death.  Others  that  have  been  faithful 
are  in  the  evening  of  life.  Such  being  the  state  of  things  with  us,  we  have 
made  this  call,  hoping  that  some  able  minister  will  "Come  over  and  help 
us. ' '  And  should  any  one  conclude  to  do  so,  and  desire  further  informa- 
tion, address — John  P.  Dunn,  Jacob  Parrott,  or  Benjamin  Parrott,  Kins- 
ton,  Lenoir  Co.,  North  Carolina — or  Willis  Dixon,  Fountain  Hill,  Green 
Co.,   North   Carolina. 

Dr.  John  T.  Walsh,  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  answered  this  call. 
He  arrived  at  Kinston,  March  15,  1852.4  His  first  night  was 
spent  at  the  Caswell  House.  Later,  John  P.  Dunn,  with  whom 
he  had  corresponded,  entertained  him  in  his  home  eight  miles 
north  of  town.  Walsh  preached  his  first  sermon  in  North  Caro- 
lina, March  21,  1852,  at  Fellow's  Chapel— then  called  Elm 
Grove — near  Grift  on.  On  this  brief  "prospecting  tour,"  he 
preached  for  the  churches  in  Lenoir,  Pitt,  Greene,  and  Jones 
Counties.  The  "Co-operation"  called  him  to  the  evangelistic 
work.  He  returned  to  Richmond  and  removed  his  family  to 
North  Carolina.  For  the  first  two  years  they  boarded  with 
various  Disciple  families.  He  then  bought  a  house  and  lot  from 
Dr.  R.  Hooker  in  Hookerton.  This  was  possible  by  an  outright 
gift  of  $500.00  to  Dr.  Walsh  from  Benjamin  Streeter  of  Oak 
Grove  Church  in  Greene  County.  Dr.  Walsh  said  that  he  had 
seen  "many  liberal-hearted  brethren"  but  had  never  "found 
one  whose  liberality  was  equal  to  this. '  '5 

At  first  Gideon  Allen  was  associated  with  Dr.  Walsh.  They 
evangelized  in  Johnston,  Sampson,  and  Wayne  Counties.  Walsh 
held  a  meeting  at  Hookerton  a  few  years  after  coming  to  the 
State,  with  about  forty  additions.  He  was  a  pastor-evangelist 
throughout  the  thirty-three  years  of  his  service  in  North  Caro- 
lina. Some  of  his  important  pastorates  were :  Kinston,  Bethany 
(Pamlico),  Hookerton,  Wheat  Swamp  and  Oak  Grove  (Greene). 
His  preaching  was  effective.  It  was  said  of  a  service  he  held  at 
Wheat  Swamp  :6 


112  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

"On  one  occasion,  on  a  Lord's  day,  he  preached  there  to  a 
large  congregation ;  and  at  the  close  of  his  discourse  he  extended 
an  invitation  to  all  who  accepted  Christ  as  their  Saviour  to  come 
forward  and  confess  their  faith  in  Him;  and  fourteen  young 
ladies  arose  simultaneously  and  came  forward!  There  were 
few  dry  eyes  in  the  house  on  that  occasion;  every  heart  seemed 
to  be  melted,  and  all  eyes  suffused  with  tears." 

From  the  beginning  Walsh  had  the  high  esteem  of  Disciple 
leaders  in  North  Carolina.  A  few  weeks  after  he  came,  Alfred 
Moye  wrote  his  son  Moses  at  Wake  Forest.  The  letter  was  dated 
April  5,  1852.    He  said : 

We  have  a  new  preacher  with  us;  Dr.  Walsh,  of  Richmond.  He  is  an 
educated  man,  well  versed  in  the  Scriptures;  both  eloquent  and  persuasive. 
He  has  preached  for  our  Brethren  at  Kinston,  Elm  Grove,  Rountrees, 
Tisons,  and  at  Oak  Grove  (Greene)  on  Saturday  and  Sunday  last.  He 
appears  to  take  well  and  it  is  expected  that  he  will  remain  and  preach  in 
our  bounds  until  the  next  annual  Conference.  I  heard  him  at  Tisons  and 
the  Grove  and  am  much  pleased  with  him  and  so  are  the  brethren  gen- 
erally except  a  few  anti  's  who  are  opposed  to  almost  everything  like  pro- 
gression. 

After  a  three  months'  experience  in  the  field  Walsh  wrote 
Alexander  Campbell  on  June  16,  1852,  as  follows  :8 

We  number  here  in  Eastern  North  Carolina  near  3,000  members,  many 
of  whom  are  highly  intelligent  and  zealous.  A  goodly  number  of  our 
brethren  here  are  among  the  most  respectable  in  the  community,  and  are 
men  of  considerable  wealth.  It  was  only  a  year  or  so  since  that  we  learned 
anything  about  them,  their  position  being  entirely  isolated  from  the  rest  of 
our  Churches.  About  eighteen  or  twenty  years  ago  Father  Campbell  passed 
through  this  region  and  sowed  the  seeds  of  Reformation  into  "some  good 
and  honest  hearts";  and  they  have  brought  forth  fruit  to  the  honor  and 
glory  of  God.  Among  these  I  may  mention  our  beloved  Brother  John  F. 
Dunn,  who  has  been  the  main  pillar  of  the  cause  in  this  section,  and  who 
with  the  aid  of  Elder  Thos.  J.  Latham,  and  other  co-laborers,  has  accom- 
plished much  good  and  established  the  cause  of  Reformation  on  a  firm 
basis. 

In  1854,  Jesse  P.  Nevill  was  employed  through  the  Disciples' 
Evangelizing  Committee  to  serve  as  general  evangelist.  His 
salary  was  to  be  $300.00  per  year.  However,  this  Committee  in 
the  meeting  of  1855  felt  that  the  needs  had  not  been  adequately 
met.  They  reported  advisedly  that  "there  is  a  great  demand 
for  ministerial  labor  in  the  destitute  churches,"  aside  from  the 
"inviting  fields"  for  evangelizing.      To  meet  the  situation  they 


Alfred  Moye.   1793-1863 


Winsor  Dixon,  1802-1858 


EARLY   EVANGELIZATION  113 

proposed  appointment  of  an  executive  committee  charged  with 
assembling  of  sufficient  funds  from  the  churches  and  the  em- 
ployment of  the  evangelist.  The  personnel  of  this  Committee 
was :  Richard  W.  King,  James  W.  May,  Thomas  Ward,  Wm.  J. 
Bowen,  and  Horace  Oden.  They  employed  Amos  J.  Battle  and 
Seth  H.  Tyson.  The  service  of  Battle  was  perhaps  the  most 
colorful  and  his  reports  certainly  the  most  graphic  of  the  Dis- 
ciples' history  of  early  evangelism  in  the  State.  Following  is  a 
characteristic  passage  from  his  report  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of 
1856: 

I  have  not  been  able  to  do  anything  for  the  church  at  Wilson,  for  want 
of  a  suitable  place  to  worship  in.  At  first  we  used  the  lower  room  of  the 
Masonic  Hall,  for  which  I  gave  bond  and  security  of  $2,000.00  against 
damages,  which  had  to  be  given  up  on  the  death  of  the  security.  We  then 
met  in  Brother  Friar 's  house  till  he  had  to  sell  that.  All  its  members  are 
in  good  order,  and  remain  firm  in  their  faith,  when  I  heard  from  them. 

Elder  Tyson  and  I  held  a  week's  meeting  at  Oak  Grove,  in  Pitt,  preach- 
ing by  day  and  night  till  the  first  Lord's  Day  in  April,  which  resulted  in 
the  baptism  of  twelve  persons.  On  my  way  to  visit  Hyde,  I  preached  at 
Union  Chapel,  Bath,  Concord  (where  I  baptised  one),  and  at  Pungo  Chapel. 
From  here  I  have  to  turn  back,  to  go  to  Perquimans  Court  where  I  had 
been  summoned  to  attend.  I  got  back  in  time  enough  to  meet  my  appoint- 
ment at  Head  of  Pungo,  the  third  Lord's  Day  in  April,  by  going  a  cut 
through  the  Dismal  Swamp,  as  it  is  called,  8%  miles,  riding  half  way,  and 
leading  my  horse  carefully  to  keep  him  from  miring  down  in  the  soft  mud. 
I  also  visited  a  lone  family  living  on  Pungo  Lake,  seven  miles  walk  from 
any  other  family,  and  was  glad  to  find  a  warm  hearted  Christian  in  the 
woman,  who  sang  us  some  sweet  songs  in  this  lone  hut  in  the  wilderness. 
I  again  had  to  go  alone  with  my  pony  thro  the  8%  miles  of  Dismal,  and 
noticed  that  the  bears  had  gnawed  nearly  every  mile  post,  out  of  pure  mis- 
chief as  I  supposed.  I  preached  a  few  days  to  the  young  church  at  Long 
Acre,  to  defend  our  doctrine  from  the  assaults  of  our  enemies,  and  then 
came  on  to  Beaver  Dam,  where  Elders  Tyson  and  Winfield  had  been  hold- 
ing a  meeting,  and  baptised  twelve  persons.  I  preached  three  days  and 
nights  where  five  more  were  baptised.  Elder  Tyson  and  myself,  with  the 
aid  of  Elder  T.  J.  Latham,  organized  those  young  disciples  into  a  church 
on  the  30th  of  April. 

Seth  H.  Tyson  served  North  of  Tar  River.  This  was  a  Union 
Meeting  District  co-operating  with  the  State  group.  During  the 
year  they  paid  him  $275.00.  He  received  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  additions  to  the  churches.  Confidently  he  said:9  "Now, 
brethren,  is  not  this  encouraging,  when  we  take  into  considera- 
tion how  few  and  feeble  our  churches  were   two  years  ago? 


114  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

When  there  were  only  9  churches  in  our  Union  Meeting,  but 
now  there  are  17  churches,  all  united  in  sending  out  an  evan- 
gelist to  build  up  the  churches  in  their  most  holy  faith,  and  to 
establish  new  churches  wherever  practicable  in  their  bounds." 
During  the  remaining  ante-bellum  period  the  constant  handi- 
cap of  insufficient  funds  prevented  any  concerted  extensive 
evangelizing.  This  was  left  to  the  District  Co-operations. 
Chafed  by  this  inefficiency,  an  observant  writer  from  Long  Acre, 
whose  only  signature  is  "R,"  under  date  of  December  27,  1859, 
said  in  the  Carolina  Christian  Monthly: 

The  reformation  has  done  much,  yes  very  much;  but  it  has  not  done 
what  it  could  and  what  it  ought  to  have  done  in  a  permanent  system  of 
evangelizing;  the  importance  of  which  seems  to  have  been  deeply  impressed 
on  many  of  our  best  and  most  worthy  brethren.  But  for  the  want  of  a 
co-operation  of  the  entire  brotherhood  the  matter  has  never  aspired  above 
adopting  resolutions.  *  *  *  If  the  adoption  of  resolutions  could  have 
effected  anything,  all  of  our  churches  would  have  been  supplied  with  effi- 
cient evangelists,  and  all  of  them  with  flourishing  Sunday  Schools. 

The  writer  proceeded  to  emphasize  the  vital  necessity  of  evan- 
gelism and  the  mutual  sacrifices  incident  thereto.  He  proposed 
the  establishing  of  an  evangelizing  Super-Committee,  this  body 
to  be  courageous  and  judicious,  and  so  in  the  confidence  of  the 
churches  as  to  be  clothed  with  administrative  authority  to  sup- 
ply the  field  with  an  effective  evangelization.  With  a  vision  far 
ahead  of  his  day  he  concluded:  "In  addition  to  this  we  need  a 
general  evangelist  (not  a  presiding  Elder),  to  visit  each  circuit, 
to  find  out  the  true  state  of  things,  relating  to  Church  govern- 
ment ;  to  see  that  all  are  working  along  in  unison,  and  to  report 
the  result  to  the  evangelizing  Committee,  or  to  Conference." 

During  the  War  Between  the  States,  from  1863  onward,  John 
J.  Harper  was  the  State  Evangelist.  He  was  paid  $1,000.00  in 
Confederate  money  from  various  sources  for  his  first  year's 
work.  During  the  next  season  Sherman's  invasion  overwhelmed 
Eastern  North  Carolina,  Harper  lost  his  horse  to  Federal  Sol- 
diers, but  continued  within  limited  bounds  as  a  pedestrian 
worker.  Disciples  had  three  hundred  accessions  this  last  year 
of  the  War.  Harper's  work  was  praised  by  his  brethren  in  the 
Convention. 

From  the  close  of  the  War  until  the  establishment  of  the 
North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Convention,  there  was  no 


EARLY   EVANGELIZATION  115 

general  evangelist  except  at  long  intervals.  Amos  J.  Battle 
served  in  1867  and  1868.  Gideon  Allen  and  Joseplms  Latham 
were  sent  on  an  evangelizing  mission  to  Disciples  in  the  western 
Counties,  in  1869.  The  Second  District  (Hookerton),  did  fruit- 
ful work  with  her  evangelists  through  the  seventies;  notably 
with  Josephus  Latham  in  Hyde  County.  Dr.  H.  D.  Harper 
served  the  State  in  1874  and  1875.  J.  L.  Burns  and  J.  L.  Win- 
field,  were  the  first  evangelists  in  1877,  and  1878,  under  the  new 
missionary  regime  of  the  Society,  with  Board  of  Managers,  and 
Constitution.  Their  service  marked  the  beginning  of  the  mod- 
ernly  organized  State  work. 

The  Disciples  for  the  most  part  have  practiced  a  sane,  if 
fervent  evangelism.  To  this  their  marvelous  growth  in  America 
is  largely  attributed.  Moses  T.  Moye,  in  a  retrospect,  however, 
October,  1873,  pointed  out  some  shortcomings.     He  said  :10 

Heretofore  those  reporting  the  greatest  number  of  converts  have  been 
considered  the  best  evangelists  and  have  been  petted  and  feasted  by  the 
Brotherhood  wherever  they  have  gone  and  as  a  result  their  talents  and  work 
have  been  employed  to  enlist  recruits,  whilst,  the  drill  in  a  great  measure 
has  been  considered  less  important.  Recruiting,  we  admit,  is  very  com- 
mendable and  by  no  means  to  be  overlooked,  but  unless  the  recruits  are 
instructed  ' '  in  the  way  of  righteousness, ' '  they  are  ineffective  and  some- 
times become  an  element  to  disorganize  those  who  are  striving  to  attain 
to  an  exalted  state  of  perfection  in  the  religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  the 
Christ. 

Within  fifty  years  after  the  Disciples'  beginning  a  distinct 
change  had  come  in  the  pulpit  methods  of  their  representative 
preachers.     John  J.  Harper  writing  of  this  in  1891,  said  i11 

Forty  years  ago,  and  even  later,  loud  deafening  declamation  and  wild, 
excited  gesticulation,  however  untimely,  were  considered  orthodox,  in  good 
taste,  and  unmistakable  evidence  of  ability.  If  a  preacher  was  at  any  time 
known  to  make  "a  powerful  effort"  he  was  sure  to  be  "heard  from," 
sometimes  as  much  as  a  mile  away,  as  the  writer  can  testify  from  audible 
demonstration.  I  remember  to  have  been  in  the  audience  frequently  at  the 
monthly  appointment  of  one  of  these  "sons  of  thunder,"  and  that  his 
fiery  bolts  frequently  gave  me  the  headache  and  woke  the  sleeping  babes 
in  the  congregation.  But  the  preaching  seemed  also  to  rouse  sinners  and, 
comfort  saints;  and  that  it  was  "sound"  no  one  has  ever  doubted.  The 
last  quarter  of  a  century  has  seen  the  style  of  preaching  greatly  modified 
— in  fact,  almost  entirely  superseded  by  a  style  that  is  more  argumentative 
and   persuasive ;    and   the   tendency  evidently  now  is   toward  the  conversa- 


116  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

tional  method.     The  foremost  men  in  the  ministry  are  assuming  the  attitude 
of  teachers  of  God's  word,  rather  than  of  pulpit  orators. 

Notes 

iLetter  in  possession  of  Mrs.  J.  C.  Eagles,  Wilson,  N.  C,  daughter  of 
Moses  Tyson  Moye.  :Ibid.  3Christian  Union  and  Religious  Review,  April, 
1852,  page  126.  ■'"Life  and  Times  of  John  T.  Walsh,"  page  69.  5Ibid.,  page 
72.  6Ibid.,  page  77.  TSame  as  Notes  (1)  and  (2).  sMillennial  Harbinger, 
1S52,  pages  537,  538.  9Minutes,  1856.  "Watch  Tower,  October,  1873,  page 
25.     "Missionary  Weekly,   Richmond,   Va.,    April   23,    1891,    page   5,. 


Chapter  XII 

RISE  OF  DISCIPLES  IN  THE  WESTERN  COUNTIES 

The  outstanding  pioneer  of  Southwest  Virginia  Disciples  was 
Dr.  Chester  Bullard.  At  first  the  leader  of  an  independent 
Christian  movement,  he  became  identified  with  the  Disciples  in 
1840. 1  His  home  was  near  Snowville,  Virginia,  about  forty 
miles  from  the  North  Carolina  line.  He  was  an  active  evan- 
gelist. Dr.  Walsh  had  known  him  in  the  Virginia  work.  On 
June  22,  1854,  he  wrote  Dr.  Walsh  :2 

I  have  long  intended  to  write  an  explanation  for  failing  to  respond  to 
the  request  of  brethren  to  visit  your  region ;  but  for  some  time  I  lost  sight 
of  your  address,  until  this  mail  brought  me  the  Christian  Friend,  the  fear- 
less advocate  of  primitive  Christianity  in  North  Carolina.  Through  the 
Friend  I  would  say  to  the  brethren,  that  they  were  mistaken  in  the  Raleigh 
for  which  I  had  an  appointment ;  the  Raleigh  I  visit  is  a  county  in  Virginia. 
True  enough,  I  visit  Surry  Co.,  North  Carolina,  ten  miles  southeast  of 
Mt.  Airy.  On  the  road  from  Mt.  Airy  to  Salem,  is  a  house  called  War 
Hill,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  are  some  fifteen  Disciples,  whom  I  very 
unexpectedly  baptized,  and  whose  destitute  condition  is  frequently  to  me 
a  matter  of  sore  distress.  Will  not  some  prudent,  pious  brother  in  North 
Carolina  visit  them?  Mr.  Banner,  a  Methodist  gentleman,  but  whose  ex- 
cellent wife  is  a  Disciple,  or  Captain  Hill,  whose  daughters  have  obeyed  the 
Lord,  or  Mr.  Davis,  Esq.,  will  hospitably  entertain  you,  brethren.  They 
all  live  near  War  Hill,  and  a  letter  directed  to  Capt.  William  Hill,  Tom's 
Creek,  Surry  Co.,  will  secure  you  a  congregation.  May  the  Lord  prosper 
the  cause  in  the  old  North  State. 

Virginia  pioneers  had  crossed  the  Carolina  border  and  won 
scattered  recruits  for  the  "Restoration  Movement."  They  felt 
responsibility  for  continuation  of  the  work.  This  was  shown  in 
the  following  letter  from  another  pioneer  evangelist,  Dexter  A. 
Snow,  also  from  Snowville,  which  appeared  under  date  of  No- 
vember 9,  1858,  in  the  Christian  Intelligencer,  organ  of  the 
Virginia  Disciples:3 

I  have  just  returned  from  a  short  tour  in  Carolina,  made  at  the  earnest 
and  repeated  request  of  the  little  churches  planted  there  by  our  old  Bro. 
Speer,  now  deceased.  It  was  a  trip  full  of  interest  to  me,  and  I  hope  not 
without  its  good  results  for  the  cause  of  our  Redeemer.     True,  there  were 

117 


118  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

but  two  persons  immersed,  but  the  public  mind  is  awakened,  and  the 
brethren  encouraged  and  strengthened.  A  faithful  evangelist  could,  in  a 
few  months,  place  our  cause  on  a  sure  footing  in  that  region.  The  sen- 
sible and  influential  are  in  heart  with  us,  and  only  need  to  be  assured  of 
its  permanent  advocacy  to  embrace  it.  At  Mt.  Airy,  Dobson,  Boonville, 
Yadkinville,  and  Huntsville,  we  found  warm  friends  and  a  deep  interest 
outside  of  our  brotherhood.  The  object  of  this  note  is  to  direct  the  atten- 
tion of  preaching  brethren  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  to  these  points. 
Bro.  Dillard  is  within  some  50  miles  of  this  field.  The  Eastern  Carolina 
brethren  are  within  a  few  hours'  railroad  ride  of  them.  Letters  directed 
to  Dr.  Lang  at  Huntsville;  Virgil  A.  Wilson,  Yadkinville;  R.  B.  McGuire, 
Boonville;  Postmaster,  Dobson;  or  to  Gen.  Graves,  at  Mount  Airy,  will 
receive  prompt  attention.  Let  us  plead  with  the  preaching  brethren  not  to 
pass  this  call  idly  by.  I  would  try  to  meet  any  brother  there  during  the 
winter,  if  duly  notified. 

On  one  of  his  Carolina  tours  Dexter  A.  Snow  had  converted 
the  wife  of  Dr.  Beverly  Jones,  who  lived  on  their  large  country 
estate  near  Bethania.  Mrs.  Jones  was  the  first  Disciple  in 
Forysth  County.  Snow  also  did  much  work  in  surrounding 
counties. 

Dr.  Wm.  H.  Hughart  evangelized  in  this  area  for  the  Dis- 
ciples in  1858.  He  was  a  native  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  having 
graduated  from  the  Richmond  Baptist  Seminary,  and  later  from 
the  Medical  College  there.4  He  came  to  North  Carolina  as  a 
practicing  physician,  to  make  his  home  in  Wilson,  in  1857. 
Returning  for  a  brief  stay  in  Virginia,  he  came  to  Dobson,  North 
Carolina,  to  meet  Rev.  Roby,  a  Methodist  preacher,  in  debate. 
The  challenge  had  come  from  Roby.  Roby  had  the  first  speech. 
Dr.  Hughart  had  elaborately  prepared  an  argument.  After 
Hughart 's  first  reply,  Roby  asked  to  withdraw.  However, 
Hughart  held  him  to  his  agreement  for  an  extended  debate  in- 
sisting that  he  had  come  out  of  Virginia  on  a  special,  long  jour- 
ney to  meet  his  challenge.  It  was  a  friendly  debate.  Everybody 
kept  in  good  humor. 

Virgil  A.  Wilson  of  Pfafftown  was  the  most  fruitful  evan- 
gelist in  this  area.  He  had  heard  Dr.  Billiard,  and  had  gone  to 
him  for  baptism  at  his  Virginia  home.  He  started  the  church 
of  Christ  at  Pfafftown  shortly  after  the  Civil  War.  He  had 
first  preached  there  to  a  company  of  soldiers.  After  Pfafftown, 
Jefferson  was  organized  and  then  Muddy  Creek.  This  western 
group  of  Disciples  did  not  report  to  the  State  group  until  the 


RISE    OF    DISCIPLES   IN    THE    WESTERN    COUNTIES  119 

Annual  Meeting  of  1877.  The  Clerk  at  Mt.  Nebo,  in  Yadkin 
County,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Convention  giving  the  status  of 
Disciples  in  that  region.  He  stated  that  Mt.  Nebo  Church  was 
organized  in  July,  1876,  with  fifteen  members,  and  that  evan- 
gelist Kurfees  had  added  fifteen  more  in  two  revivals.  He  said : 
"We  have  almost  finished  a  new  church  house.  We  meet  every 
Lord's  Day,  break  the  loaf,  read  the  Scriptures,  contribute  as  in 
Apostolic  times.  *  *  *  List  of  preachers :  V.  A.  Wilson,  Silas 
Peacock,  John  Idol,  of  Bethania,  Forsyth  Co. ;  Jesse  Briggs,  Pate 
Laman,  Mt.  Airy,  Surry  Co. ;  Alexander  Wishon,  Mt.  Nebo, 
Yadkin  Co.  List  of  Disciples :  Surry  County,  about  25 ;  Stokes, 
80;  Forsyth,  150;  Yadkin,  75;  and  Davie,  35."  Thus,  as  of 
1877,  the  regional  membership  is  given  as  365.  Washington 
Neely  and  Richard  Poindexter  are  early  additional  recruits  to 
their  ministry. 

Dr.  Winthrop  H.  Hopson,  of  Missouri,  was  a  Confederate 
Chaplain  under  Gen.  John  H.  Morgan.  At  the  approaching 
downfall  of  the  Confederacy  he  made  his  home  with  Harrison 
Spencer  in  Henry  County,  Virginia.3  Spencer  was  the  father 
of  Mrs.  Frank  Penn,  pioneer  leader  of  Reidsville,  North  Caro- 
lina, Disciples.  While  Dr.  Hopson  was  a  war  refugee,  he 
preached  in  North  Carolina  in  old  Salem,  and  in  the  school 
houses  about  Bethania.  He  was  among  the  ablest  Disciple 
leaders. 

The  first  Union  Meeting  organized  in  this  area  was  by  State 
Evangelist  J.  L.  Burns.6  This  was  in  July,  1888.  It  was  known 
as  the  Forsyth  Christian  Union  Meeting.  The  following  churches 
composed  it :  Jefferson  and  Boyers  in  Forsyth  County ;  Corinth 
and  Haw  Pond  in  Stokes ;  Beulah  in  Davidson ;  and  Jericho  in 
Davie.  Burns  said :  ' '  These  churches  have  employed  a  preacher 
and  now  have  regular  monthly  services.  They  also  have  good 
Sunday  Schools  and  will  in  future  be  fully  identified  with  the 
State  Convention  in  Missionary  work."  This  was  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Piedmont  District  Convention,  which  was  inaugu- 
rated in  September,  1891. 

At  Stokesdale,  a  village  in  Guilford  County,  in  1887  there 
lived  L.  A.  Southern.7  For  years  he  was  a  sincere  reader  of  the 
Bible  but  could  not  accept  the  creeds  and  practices  of  the  Com- 
munions he  knew.  In  seeking  light  as  to  his  religious  course,  he 
learned  through  his  oldest  brother,  a  Disciple  in  Texas,  of  the 


120  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Church  of  Christ.  This  brother  sent  him  a  periodical,  the  Gospel 
Advocate,  for  a  year.  Southern  wrote  the  Advocate  asking  for 
an  evangelist  for  Stokesdale,  a  virgin  field  for  Disciples.  Adam 
Barrett,  from  the  old  Refuge  Church  near  Asheville,  North 
Carolina,  answered  the  call.  Barrett  was  called  "a  delicate, 
frail  boy"  by  Mrs.  Jane  L.  Fagg,  who  was  a  religious  mother 
to  him.  He  had  been  prepared  by  private  teaching  in  the  Fagg 
household,  and  his  first  experience  in  preaching  was  in  his  home 
church.  When  he  came  to  Stokesdale  in  November,  1887,  there 
was  determined  opposition  on  the  part  of  other  Communions.  A 
Church  auditorium  was  opened,  then  summarily  closed  to  him. 
He  continued  the  meeting  under  persecution  in  Southern's  store. 
Barrett  returned  in  March  and  August  following  and  established 
the  church  with  over  twenty  members.  L.  A.  Southern  and  wife 
were  the  first  converts,  and  were  the  first  known  Disciples  in 
Guilford  County.  Southern  said:  "I,  for  the  first  time  heard 
from  this  man,  sent  of  God,  the  simple  plan  of  salvation  as 
taught  in  the  New  Testament.  The  light,  yes  glorious  light  of 
truth  had  come  at  last  and  my  views  of  miraculous  conversion 
and  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  gave  place  to  things  I  could  now 
understand."  Within  the  next  year  Barrett  died  of  tubercu- 
losis. 

On  August  1,  1890,  Winston-Salem  Disciples  were  organized 
by  their  missionary  pastor  R.  W.  Stancill.8  There  were  twenty- 
seven  charter  members.  Their  officers  were:  T.  T.  Best,  J.  I. 
Styers,  P.  T.  Lehman,  H.  D.  Holcomb,  and  E.  R.  Messick.  They 
met  at  first  in  Union  Chapel  in  North  Winston,  then  in  a  rented 
hall  in  the  Gray  Block.  In  the  fall  of  1891,  they  moved  into 
their  first  unit,  the  Bible  School  room,  of  their  first  West  Fourth 
Street  plant.  North  Carolina  is  excessively  rural,  and  Disciples 
of  the  State  in  personnel  were  almost  wholly  a  rural  people  for 
their  first  half  century.  Winston-Salem,  however,  provides  an 
instance  of  a  vigorous  growth  of  Disciples  in  a  metropolitan 
field.  Greensboro  and  Charlotte  Disciples  starting  twenty-five 
years  later  are  similar  instances  of  this  urban  development. 

An  ultra-conservative  group  of  Disciples,  who  opposed  use  of 
musical  instruments  in  the  Churches,  and  the  functioning  of 
missionary  societies  in  the  Church,  developed  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Tolbert  Fanning  and  David  Lipscomb,  both  of  Tennes- 
see.    The  strength  of  this  group  is  mainly  in  Tennessee  and 


RISE   OF    DISCIPLES   IN   THE   WESTERN    COUNTIES  121 

Texas.  Disciples  in  these  western  counties  of  North  Carolina 
did  not  begin  under  anti-missionary  leadership,  but  it  was  not 
long  before  the  extreme  conservatives  discovered  their  oppor- 
tunity. They  were  aggressive  in  blighting  effectually  every 
church  of  Christ,  where  they  could  prevail.  This  was  extensive. 
A  few  preachers  bred  in  North  Carolina  were  proselytes  to  this 
group.  Chief  among  these  was  Marshall  C.  Kurfees  of  Davie 
County,  who  became  one  of  their  outstanding  national  leaders. 
These  Disciples  in  the  Western  Counties  for  many  years  had  no 
co-ordinate  affiliation  with  any  State  group.  Travel  between 
sections  was  slow  and  difficult.  They  were  isolated.  They  were 
open  to  depredations  of  reactionary  zealots  from  Tennessee  and 
Texas.  The  cause  of  liberal  and  progressive  Christianity  re- 
ceived many  a  hard  blow  from  this  source,  and  its  growth  was 
materially  retarded. 

Beyond  the  Blue  Ridge  the  earliest  Disciple  pioneers  in  North 
Carolina  were  Colonel  Fagg  and  wife,  Mrs.  Jane  L.  Fagg,  of 
Buncombe  County,  and  Mrs.  Thurston  Crane  of  Asheville.  The 
Cranes  were  Cincinnati  people.  Thurston  Crane  was  the  first 
Treasurer  of  the  American  Christian  Bible  Society,  when  it  was 
founded  in  Cincinnati  in  1845.  Later  he  was  Corresponding 
Secretary  of  the  American  Christian  Missionary  Society,  suc- 
ceeding James  Challen.  Crane  died  in  1861.  The  parents  of 
Mrs.  Fagg  resided  with  their  family  in  the  northern  portion  of 
Buncombe  County  during  the  Civil  AVar.9  Once  during  that 
troublous  period  they  sought  security  in  seclusion  from  the  high- 
way near  their  home.  This  safety  point  was  named  "Refuge," 
by  Mrs.  M.  R.  Easterley,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Jane  L.  Fagg,  to  com- 
memorate sentimentally  the  event.  Mrs.  Fagg  said:  "She  little 
thought  of  what  an  appropriate  name  she  was  giving  the  first 
Christian  Church  in  Western  North  Carolina."  At  that  time 
Mrs.  Easterley  opposed  the  Disciples,  ridiculing  them,  and  burn- 
ing their  papers  which  came  to  the  family  and,  as  Mrs.  Fagg 
added,  "lamented  my  being  led  away  by  its  heresies."  How- 
ever, this  entire  family  later  united  with  the  Disciples.  In  the 
beginning,  Disciples  were  few  and  lonely.  Mrs.  Fagg's  daugh- 
ter said:10  "As  a  child  I  remember  mother  and  one  old  brother 
meeting  in  the  court  house  every  Sunday  and  breaking  the  loaf. 
Without  her  there  would  have  probably  been  a  long  period  of 
time  before  our  plea  had  been  preached  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge. ' ' 


122  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

In  1869,  Amos  J.  Battle  as  State  Evangelist  made  the  last 
evangelizing  journey  of  his  eventful  career  to  the  people  of  this 
region.  The  Faggs  then  lived  at  Rutherfordton.  The  following 
is  the  evangelist 's  story11  as  he  told  it : 

I  set  out  the  last  of  March  to  visit  Rutherfordton  and  Reems  Creek 
in  Buncombe  County  and  reached  the  first  place  the  last  day  of  the  month. 
I  made  Col.  Fagg  's  my  home — where  I  was  cordially  welcomed  by  the 
Col.  and  his  wife,  our  noble  hearted  Sister  Jane  L.  Fagg.  The  houses 
of  worship  in  this  place  were  all  closed  against  me,  so  I  had  to  preach  in 
the  court  house  (Latham's  Chapel  as  it  is  called  there).  I  had  a  very 
respectable  attendance  and  a  fixed  attention  to  my  sermons,  and  although 
I  did  not  baptize  anyone  in  Rutherfordton,  yet  I  feel  assured  that  several 
very  intelligent  gentlemen  and  ladies  became  satisfied  that  we  teach  the 
true  doctrine  of  the  scriptures.  Several  Baptists,  a  few  Methodists  and 
Presbyterians  expressed  their  readiness  to  unite  with  us  as  soon  as  we 
organize  a  church  there.  I  preached  three  times  at  Linche  's  Mill  ten  miles 
on  the  road  to  Asheville,  and  the  last  sermon  on  the  4th  Lord's  Day  in 
April,  induced  Sister  Augusta  Linche  (wife  of  the  owner  of  the  mill)  to 
make  the  good  confession,  and  at  4  o  'clock  the  same  evening,  I  baptized 
her  in  Broad  River,  close  to  their  residence,  in  the  presence  of  a  number 
of  Baptists  who  treated  Sister  Linche  with  a  good  deal  of  kindness  and 
Christian  courtesy. 

Having  walked  from  Rutherfordton  to  this  point  on  my  way  to  Asheville, 
I  was  unexpectedly  assisted  on  my  way  by  Mr.  Potrum,  who  was  going  to 
Asheville  after  his  sister. 

I  reached  our  brother  Dr.  J.  M.  Baird's  Tuesday  morning  and  was 
warmly  welcomed  by  his  kind  family  with  whom  I  spent  a  few  days  very 
pleasantly.  Bro.  Baird  sent  me  to  Reems  Creek  on  Friday  following.  On 
Saturday  I  visited  Flat  Creek  Baptist  place  of  worship,  where  I  was  treated 
very  kindly  by  their  minister,  Elder  Laws,  and  since  I  left  they  voted  to 
open  their  house,  not  only  for  me  but  for  our  preachers  visiting  them. 
Reems  Creek  belonging  to  the  Methodists,  was  closed  against  me,  so  I  had 
to  preach  in  a  school-house  near  by. 

On  the  2nd  Lord's  Day  in  May,  however,  Dr.  Reagan,  a  Methodist 
preacher,  had  an  appointment  for  himself  and  he  invited  me  to  fill  his 
appointment,  which  I  thankfully  accepted  and  had  a  full  house  and  a 
patient  hearing  for  one  hour  and  a  half. 

Battle  had  ventured  the  long  trip  with  no  guaranty  of  salary. 
The  best  the  State  Committee  could  do  was  to  advance  him 
$30.00.  The  Hookerton  Church  contributed  liberally  to  the 
enterprise.  Mrs.  Fagg  was  generous.  But  a  large  part  of  the 
support  came  to  Battle  in  contributions  from  the  Central  States 
to  which  "the  Land  of  the  Sky"  is  ever  alluring. 

Battle's  work  materially  succeeded.     For  on  May  4,   1873, 


RISE   OF    DISCIPLES   IN    THE    WESTERN    COUNTIES  123 

Refuge,  "the  first  church  building  belonging  to  Disciples  in 
Buncombe"  was  opened.  J.  L.  Winfield  gave  them  "two  ex- 
cellent discourses."12  Mrs.  Fagg  remarked:  "That  others  may 
judge  of  the  zeal  and  hunger  for  pure  preaching  I  will  mention 
that  some  of  the  members  of  the  congregation  living  in  Ashe- 
ville,  14  miles  distant  were  there  in  good  time,  Sister  Crane 
among  them.  *  *  *  The  leaven  is  working  and  I  feel  more 
encouraged  than  I  have  for  some  time." 

The  State  Convention  of  1873,  was  held  at  Hookerton.  Mrs. 
Thurston  Crane  attended  as  a  representative  to  enroll  the  three 
new  Churches  in  Buncombe  County.  These  were  Refuge,  Ashe- 
ville  and  Bee  Tree.  W.  D.  Starr  was  their  minister.  In  sub- 
sequent years  Asheville  was  visited  by  strong  evangelists.  This 
with  sane  pastoral  leadership  accounted  for  steady  progress 
there.  In  1890,  they  completed  their  first  plant,  and  the  menac- 
ing debt  was  raised  by  the  heroic  leadership  of  R.  W.  Stancill 
under  the  State  Service.  Their  vigorous  growth  and  their  com- 
pletion of  a  second  plant,  1926,  which  is  an  architectural  model 
for  Disciples  of  the  South,  is  an  example  of  Disciple  progress  in 
a  community,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  cosmopolitan  in  North 
Carolina. 

Notes 

l"The  Plea  and  the  Pioneers  in  Virginia."  page  120.  2The  Christian 
Friend  and  Bible  Unionist,  Aug.,  1854,  page  86.  3Christian  Baptist  (Walsh), 
Jan.,  1859,  page  22.  4This  data  was  supplied  by  Mrs.  Burton  Willis,  aged 
daughter  of  Dr.  William  H.  Hughart.  She  lives  near  Germanton,  N.  C. 
^"Memoirs  of  Dr.  Winthrop  Hartlv  Hopson."  bv  EIli  Lord  Hnn=on  na=re 
144,  et  seq.  6Minutes,  188.8.  7Watch  Tower,  Jan.  13,  1905.  8Christian  Week- 
ly, Nov.  24,  1906.  "Watch  Tower.  Feb.  17,  1905.  10Letter  of  Dec.  18,  1924. 
to  the  author  from  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Jane  L.  Fae;gr,  namelv  Mrs.  L  F 
Morgan,  of  Washington,  D.  C.  "Minutes,  1869.  "Watch  Tower,  Julv,  1873 
page  397. 


Chapter  XIII 
THE  PRIMARY  STATE  ORGANIZATION 

When  the  Disciples  began  they  retained  in  their  State  Meet- 
ings the  forensic  customs  of  the  Baptists  with  whom  they  had 
been  associated.  The  President  of  each  meeting  was  called 
Moderator.  Other  officers  were  Assistant  Moderator,  Clerk  and 
Assistant  Clerk,  and  Treasurer.  At  each  prior  conference,  a 
preacher,  and  his  alternate  were  appointed  for  the  introductory 
sermon.  Likewise  someone  was  designated  to  write  a  circular 
letter,  which  if  approved  was  to  be  printed  with  the  minutes. 
The  two  most  important  committees  were  the  Committee  on 
Finance,  "to  receive  contributions,  settle  with  the  Treasurer, 
and  report  to  Conference,"  and  the  program  committee  "to 
supply  the  congregation  and  fill  the  stage  with  preachers  during 
the  conference."  Special  committees  functioned  as  required. 
The  roll  of  Churches  was  called  and  from  the  reports  then  pre- 
sented the  Clerk  compiled  the  annual  statistical  table.  In  the 
early  forties  the  annual  meetings  were  held  in  November.  This 
was  soon  changed  to  early  or  mid-October  for  greater  expedi- 
ency in  entertaining  mass  attendants.  It  was  not  unusual  for 
one  home  to  receive  seventy  or  seventy-five  guests  over-night. 
For  this  extended  hospitality  mild  weather  was  a  practical  neces- 
sity. 

Disciples  had  abolished  disciplines  and  creeds,  and  had  no 
leadership  at  first  so  bold  and  astute  as  to  create  a  constitution 
for  the  governing  of  the  State  group.  Their  delegate  confer- 
ences were,  in  all  practical  effects,  mass  meetings  with  the  free- 
for-all  forum.  This  accorded  with  the  broad  and  simple  democ- 
racy of  their  constituents.  When  a  legacy  for  evangelizing 
purposes  was  left  the  Disciples  by  John  W.  Gay,  in  1855, x  Alfred 
Moye  was  simply  appointed  receiving  agent  for  it.  Red  tape 
was  diminutive. 

However,  the  need  of  an  improved  system  became  articulate 
in  1857.  That  year  a  committee  was  appointed  "to  draw  up  a 
Constitution  and  By-Laws  for  the  organization  of  a  General 

124 


THE   PRIMARY    STATE   ORGANIZATION  125 

Co-operation  to  be  submitted  to  this  Conference  for  their  adop- 
tion and  subsequently  to  the  Churches  for  their  ratification." 
This  Committee  consisted  of  John  P.  Dunn,  Win.  H.  Hughart, 
John  T.  Walsh,  George  Joyner,  and  Alfred  Moye.  In  their  re- 
port submitting  the  first  draft  of  the  Constitution  they  gave  a 
preamble  which  deserves  study  as  an  apologetic.    It  said: 

Nothing  is  more  clearly  taught  in  the  word  of  God  than  that  there  is 
but  one  body,  called  the  church  of  God,  and  that  this  church  is  composed 
of  all  true  Christians  of  every  land  and  nation,  governed  by  Christ  as  her 
only  head,  and  taking  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  her  only  creed.  It  is  equally 
clear,  that  this  one  body  of  Christ  was  divided  for  the  sake  of  convenience 
into  individual  churches,  as  the  church  of  God  at  Corinth,  etc.  And  that 
therefore  each  individual  church,  receives  no  other  creed,  confession  of 
faith  or  laws  of  government  but  the  word  of  God,  and  that  therefore  all 
the  actions  of  each  must  be  in  perfect  conformity  to  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
This  being  true,  it  follows  that  whatever  is  the  duty  of  one  church  is  in 
like  manner  the  duty  of  every  sister  church.  And  this  being  true,  we  have 
clearly  presented  to  our  minds,  the  co-operative  nature  of  the  constitution 
of  the  several  churches  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
interest  of  the  Kingdom  of  Messiah. 

Upon  this  co-operative  principle  it  is  evident  that  the  Apostolic  churches 
acted,  in  matters  of  the  greatest  moment,  both  of  a  doctrinal  and  practical 
nature ;  as  settling  the  question  about  the  circumcision  of  the  gentile  con- 
verts, raising  funds  for  the  poor,  etc.  In  relation  to  the  question  of  cir- 
cumcising the  Gentiles,  all  the  churches  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  did  not 
go  up  to  Jerusalem  in  Mass.  But  they  sent  their  delegates,  who  deliberated 
on  the  matter,  settled  it,  and  delivered  their  decision  to  the  several  churches 
as  final.  This  was  a  general  meeting  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  and  the 
action  of  the  several  churches  through  their  delegates.  Here  then  we  have 
clearly  taught,  the  Scriptural  authority  for  a  general  convention,  Confer- 
ence, or  co-operation  meeting  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ;  and  as  clearly,  the 
authority  for  settling  the  most  important  matter  by  the  delegates  compos- 
ing such  meeting — such  general  meeting  is  therefore  not  to  be  considered 
an  organization  apart  from  the  churches,  but  only  the  several  churches  act- 
ing through  their  representatives,  and  the  action  of  the  representatives  the 
action  of  the  churches  from  which  they  have  received  all  their  authority. 

And  in  regard  to  the  authority  delegated  to  the  representatives  of  the 
churches,  the  matter  is  equally  clear.  It  is  not  that  the  churches  need  tell 
them  everything  they  shall  say,  or  do,  but  in  general  terms  authorize  them 
to  attend  to  such  matters  of  general  interest,  to  which  it  is  not  practicable 
for  the  churches  in  their  individual  capacity  to  attend.  And  that  it  is  the 
Scriptural  duty  of  the  churches  to  sanction  and  carry  into  practice,  the 
action  of  the  general  meeting,  unless  it  can  be  shown  that  action  is  in 
violation  of  the  doctrine  or  practice  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

As  therefore  it  is  clearly  the  duty  of  churches  to  co-operate  in  matters 
of  general  interest  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  absolute 


126  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

necessity  for  the  sake  of  the  union  of  action,  and  efficacy  of  the  work,  that 
there  shall  be  a  distinct  understanding  in  reference  to  the  nature  of  such 
meetings,  and  general  principles  upon  which  their  deliberations  shall  be 
conducted.  And  as  such  understanding  cannot  exist  without  a  constitution, 
therefore, 

Resolved  that  this  body  adopt  the  following  articles  of  deliberation  to 
govern  this  body  in  her  actions. 

The  Constitution  which  followed  consisted  of  eight  articles, 
and  provided  in  effect  as  follows :  ( 1 )  It  was  to  be  called  the 
Annual  Conference  of  Disciples  in  North  Carolina.  (2)  It  was 
to  assemble  annually;  time  and  place  to  be  determined  in  each 
prior  meeting.  (3)  Its  voting  personnel  consisted  of  delegates 
and  ministers ;  the  delegates  not  to  exceed  three  in  number,  from 
one  church,  and  the  ministers  each  to  be  resident  in  the  State 
for  one  year  preceding  Conference.  (4)  A  delegate  was  com- 
petent to  represent  but  one  church.  (5)  Conference  was  to  be 
opened  with  prayer  and  introductory  sermon.  (6)  The  Confer- 
ence officers,  Moderator,  Clerk  and  Treasurer,  were  to  be  elected 
annually.  (7)  Each  church  was  to  send  annual  evangelizing 
pledge,  one-fourth  of  which  was  to  be  remitted  in  cash  at  Con- 
ference time.  And  (8)  The  service  of  evangelism  was  to  be 
administered  by  the  Conference  body. 

In  1859,  this  Constitution  was  revised  and  extended,  and 
called  "Rules  of  Order  and  Decorum."  The  changes  were  as 
follows : 

Article  (8)  The  Treasurer  was  to  administer  the  evangelizing 
fund  and  be  responsible  to  Conference. 

Six  articles  were  added,  which  in  substance  were  as  follows : 
(9)  Ministers  in  good  standing  were  automatically  members  of 
the  Conference.  (10)  The  evangelism  administered  by  the  Con- 
ference body  was  not  to  contravene  that  of  local  Church  or  dis- 
trict. (11)  An  Evangelical  Committee,  appointed  annually  by 
Conference  was  to  function  in  supplying  ministerial  vacancies. 
(12)  Preachers  uniting  with  Disciples  from  other  religious 
bodies  were  to  present  satisfactory  credentials.  (13)  Conference 
was  to  have  discretionary  power  over  the  ministerial  roll  to  be 
exercised  advisedly  and  strictly  each  year  and  each  church  was 
to  abide  by  the  Conference  decision  to  retain  standing.  And 
(14)  No  preacher  of  the  Conference  was  to  be  allowed  to  with- 
draw except  by  his  petition  at  a  regular  session. 


THE   PRIMARY    STATE   ORGANIZATION  127 

It  is  obvious  that  Article  13,  was  the  one  likely  to  create  the 
greatest  opposition ;  especially  from  preachers  without  the  State 
who  with  the  excessive  democracy  of  the  Disciples  had  suffered 
no  ecclesiastical  control.  But  Disciple  leaders  were  determined 
that  North  Carolina  Churches  of  Christ  should  not  be  victimized 
by  unworthy  preachers.  Much  sacrificial  energy  and  deep  devo- 
tion had  gone  into  the  building  of  the  Kingdom.  It  must  be 
safeguarded.  The  regulation  might  not  always  have  been  wisely 
applied,  but  viewed  comprehensively,  it  was  an  outstanding  fac- 
tor in  protecting  the  Churches  against  catastrophes  in  their 
ministry. 

Criticism  from  sticklers  for  Church  independence  soon  devel- 
oped. In  a  letter  to  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh,  of  February  13,  1860,  W. 
H.  Goodloe,  of  Mt.  Willing,  Alabama,  took  Walsh  to  task  for  his 
exegeisis  of  the  fifteenth  Chapter  of  Acts,  on  which  the  preamble 
of  the  North  Carolina  Constitution  was  based.  Goodloe  wrote 
under  the  sanction  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  editor  of  the  Ameri- 
can Christian  Review,  which  had  scattered  subscribers  in  North 
Carolina.  Goodloe,  a  literalist,  said :2  "I  hold  that  the  Bible 
clearly  teaches  everything  necessary  for  the  perfecting  of  the 
saints  individually  and  to  enable  the  body  of  Christ  to  do  its 
perfect  work."  He  asserted  that  the  Jerusalem  Council  was 
not  a  representative  meeting  of  the  Churches ;  that  if  Paul 
and  Barnabas  represented  the  Gentile  Churches,  they  did  it 
without  Gentile  knowledge  or  consent.  He  contended  that  the 
decision  there  reached  with  respect  to  the  Gentiles  was  on  a  doc- 
trinal issue  and  originated  purely  from  the  divine  inspiration 
of  the  "Apostles  and  Teachers,"  rather  than  from  common 
agreement  rationally  arrived  at  by  the  representative  Christian 
group.  He  claimed  that  since  the  Jerusalem  Council  did  not  sit 
again,  it  would  thus  not  serve  as  a  model  for  consecutive  Confer- 
ences of  today,  even  if  granted  for  argument's  sake  that  the 
Jerusalem  Council  was  such  a  precedent. 

Dr.  Walsh  replied  that  this  was  "absolute  radicalism";  that 
Goodloe  saw 

the  church  of  Christ  as  individual  or  separate  congregations,  but  cannot 
tell  how  they  can  ever  come  together,  this  side  of  heaven  to  form  one  com- 
munity, Conference,  or  Convention.  Their  independence  is  so  absolute  and 
complete,  that  there  is  no  way,  no  scriptural  way,  to  bring  them  together. 
Bro.  Goodloe  is  willing  to  sit  in  judgment  on  "doctrine"  not- 


128  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

withstanding  he  says  he  has  "no  right."  He  is  now  sitting  in  judgement 
on  my  teaching  and  that  of  the  Disciples  in  North  Carolina;  and  yet  he  is 
opposed  to  doing  this  very  thing!  That  is  the  Churches  must  not  do  it! 
Scribes  and  editors  may  do  it,  but  the  Churches  must  not.  He  sits  in  judg- 
ment on  our  Conference,  the  Virginia  Convention,  and  the  Missionary  Soci- 
ety, and  modestly  pronounces  them  all  heretical;  but  if  a  professed  Chris- 
tian preacher  should  bring  in  a  "  damnable  heresy, "  or  be  guilty  of 
immorality,  he  would  not  be  willing  for  the  Churches  assembled  in  Conven- 
tion, as  one  man,  to  condemn  him.  He  would  be  perfectly  willing  for  an 
editor  or  scribe  to  write  him  down,  but  the  churches  must  not,  in  an 
associational  capacity  condemn  him  and  his  doctrine.  *  *  *  Let  him 
(Goodloe),  give  the  scriptural  proof  for  such  church  independence  as  that 
for  which  he  contends.  And  having  done  this  let  him  show  scripturally  how 
they  can  assemble  together   for  any  purpose  whatever. 

A  matter  testing  the  solidarity  of  surrounding  communions 
was  Free  Masonry.  Some  had  excluded  from  their  fellowship 
all  members  of  Masonic  lodges.  This  was  brought  up  in  the 
Disciples'  Conference  of  1868  and  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted  unanimously : 

"Whereas  it  has  never  been  the  custom  of  the  Disciples  in 
North  Carolina  to  make  Masonry  a  test  of  fellowship,  leaving 
every  one  to  use  his  own  discretion  upon  the  matter,  therefore 

"Resolved  that  we  heartily  recommend  the  same  practice  to 
be  continued." 

Efficiency  in  service  demanded  that  the  State  be  divided  into 
Districts.  These  were  to  be  auxiliary  units  of  the  State  Service. 
The  evangelizing  Committee  in  the  Annual  Meeting  of  1870, 
recommended  that  there  be  three  districts  as  follows :  The  First 
District  to  comprise  the  churches  between  the  Tar  and  Roanoke 
Rivers,  with  R.  T.  Hodges,  Treas. ;  the  second,  those  between 
Tar  and  Neuse  Rivers,  Dr.  F.  W.  Dixon,  Treas. ;  and  the  Third 
District  to  include  all  churches  South  of  Neuse  River,  J.  H. 
Kinsey,  Treas.  These  were  to  be  independent  evangelical  units 
but  reporting  their  contributions  and  their  service  to  the  Annual 
Meeting. 

In  1885  these  Districts  had  grown  in  number  to  seven  and  were 
called  Union  Meeting  Districts.  They  were:  Mill  Creek,  five 
churches ;  Jones-Onslow,  twelve  churches ;  Hookerton,  fifteen 
churches ;  Pamlico,  fifteen  churches ;  Pungo,  thirteen  churches ; 
Old  Ford,  fourteen  churches;  and  Albemarle,  seventeen 
churches.    At  the  Convention  of  1890  Old  Ford  and  Albemarle 


John  Tomline  Walsh,  1816-1886 


Moses  Tyson  Moye,   1827-1900 


THE   PRIMARY    STATE   ORGANIZATION  129 

Districts  were  merged  and  called  Roanoke  District.  The  Nash- 
Edgecombe  District,  later  called  Coastal  Plains,  was  formed  in 
January,  1909. 

The  Convention  of  1876  delegated  J.  L.  Burns,  Dr.  F.  W. 
Dixon,  and  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh  to  attend  the  National  Meeting 
of  Disciples  at  Richmond,  Virginia.  It  was  called  the  General 
Missionary  Convention.  Dr.  Walsh  had  been  away  from  Vir- 
ginia for  twenty-four  years.  His  fellowship  with  Virginians  in 
this  meeting  was  "a  feast  of  fat  things."  Their  State  Mission- 
ary service  was  inaugurated  that  year.  Writing  his  observations 
in  December,  1876,  Dr.  Walsh  said:  "I  like  the  plan  of  mission- 
ary work  in  Virginia,  and  at  an  early  day  I  will  present  it  to 
our  brethren  in  this  State,  and  urge  its  immediate  adoption  by 
them."  Accordingly  in  the  Watch  Tower  of  January  1877  he 
published  a  proposed  Constitution  of  twelve  articles  for  the 
North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Society. '  '3  He  remarked : 
"Read  it  carefully,  brethren  and  sisters,  and  let  us  meet  at  an 
early  day  and  take  steps  to  inaugurate  this  business."  He  sug- 
gested that  they  meet  with  the  First  District  at  their  Fifth  Sun- 
day Meeting  in  Kinston,  in  April.  His  call  was  renewed  in 
later  issues  of  the  Watch  Tower. 

On  Friday,  April  27,  1877,  "the  ministers,  messengers  and 
friends,"  gathered  in  the  little  frame  Church  building  on  Cas- 
well Street  in  Kinston.4  Dr.  Walsh  was  named  temporary  Chair- 
man and  J.  J.  Harper  temporary  secretary.  At  the  forenoon 
session  on  Saturday  permanent  officers  were  elected  as  follows : 
President,  F.  W.  Dixon;  Vice-Presidents,  J.  J.  Harper,  J.  H. 
Foy,  Josiah  Dixon,  J.  W.  Draughan;  Treasurer,  Noah  Rouse; 
Recording  Secretary,  C.  W.  Howard;  Assistant  Secretary,  A.  J. 
Moye;  Corresponding  Secretary,  J.  T.  Walsh.  In  the  afternoon 
a  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  draft  a  Constitution. 
These  were:  Dr.  F.  W.  Dixon,  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh,  J.  J.  Harper, 
J.  H.  Foy,  A.  J.  Moye,  and  J.  L.  Burns.  The  Constitution 
which  they  presented  and  which  was  adopted  had  thirteen  ar- 
ticles. Its  main  provisions  were:  (1)  It  was  to  be  called  "The 
North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Society."  Its  object  was 
the  spread  of  the  Gospel  within  the  State.  (2)  It  was  to  be  com- 
posed of  Life  Directors,  each  paying  twenty  dollars  per  year 
for  five  years ;  Life  members,  each  paying  ten  dollars  per  year 


NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

/r  five  years ;  and  annual  members  each  paying  five  dollars  per 
year.  (3)  Its  officers  were  to  be  a  President,  four  Vice-Presi- 
dents, two  Recording  Secretaries,  a  Corresponding  Secretary, 
and  a  Treasurer.  (4)  These  officers  were  to  constitute  the  execu- 
tive committee  and  with  the  Life  Directors  were  to  compose  the 
Board  of  Managers.  (5)  The  Treasurer  was  to  provide  a  fidelity 
bond  as  directed  by  the  Board  of  Managers.  (6)  Annual  Meet- 
ing of  the  Society  was  to  be  held  at  same  time  and  place  as  the 
regular  State  Convention.  (7)  Amendment  of  Constitution  was 
to  be  made  only  by  two-thirds  vote,  and  after  a  year's  notice  of 
proposed  change. 

Members  enrolling  to  form  the  Society  were  forty-eight  in 
number.  They  were:  (1)  Two  Life  Directors,  Dr.  F.  W.  Dixon, 
and  J.  T.  Ball.  (2)  Seventeen  Life  Members:  J.  H.  Foy,  J.  J. 
Harper,  N.  S.  Richardson,  Josiah  Dixon,  C.  W.  Howard,  James 
H.  Kinsey,  Simon  E.  Hodges,  Corinth  Church  (by  A.  J.  Moye), 
J.  H.  Coward,  Jr.,  Isaiah  "Wood,  Noah  Rouse,  Irvin  N.  Keel, 
Theophilus  Keel,  Wm.  F.  Draughan,  J.  L.  Burns,  J.  T.  Walsh, 
George  Hackney.  ( 3 )  Twenty-nine  Annual  Members :  James 
B.  Pollock,  Albert  H.  Wilson,  Mill  Creek  Church,  Wilsons  Mills 
Church,  N.  D.  Myers,  C.  C.  King,  James  S.  Dixon,  Mrs.  Eunice 
M.  Draughan,  Absalom  Taylor,  Mrs.  Eliza  Rouse,  Mrs.  S.  C. 
Nicoll,  M.  D.  Land,  Mrs.  Alice  E.  Rountree,  Mrs.  Fannie  A. 
Gorham,  J.  B.  Taylor,  C.  T.  Barwick,  Wm.  H.  Rountree,  Mrs. 
Mary  F.  Stilly,  J.  H.  Bell,  Hookerton  Church,  Simon  B.  Taylor, 
Dr.  H.  D.  Harper,  Barram  Hart,  Bennett  Barnes,  A.  J.  Holton, 
H.  D.  Murrill,  J.  W.  Huffman,  Cyrus  Brown,  and  J.  W.  Harper. 

Dr.  Walsh  in  an  editorial  in  the  Watch  Tower  said:5  "The 
meeting  was  not  a  large  one  but  an  auspicious  beginning  was 
made  *  *  *  Its  primary  and  sole  object  is  to  have  the  Apos- 
tolic Gospel  preached  throughout  the  State  and  churches  organ- 
ized, or  constituted  in  all  our  villages,  towns  and  cities."  He 
wrote  with  inspiring  confidence  but  referred  to  opposition,  as  if 
it  were  expected.  He  knew  this  would  come  positively  from  the 
conservatives,  and  negatively  from  the  sheer  inertia  of  the 
masses.  Less  than  two  years  before,  Dr.  F.  W.  Dixon  had  said  :6 
"With  the  experience  and  observation  of  several  years  we  are 
thoroughly  satisfied  that  the  Disciples  of  North  Carolina,  as  a 
general  thing,  are  not  a  missionary  people." 


THE    PRIMARY    STATE    ORGANIZATION  131 

The  opposition  found  a  voice  in  James  M.  Mewborne,  of  Wheat 
Swamp,  who  wrote  Dr.  Walsh  under  the  pen  name  "Christian.''7 
He  called  the  Society  a  "new  departure."  which  would  tend  to 
destroy  the  benevolent  "fellowship"  in  the  churches.  He  re- 
ferred to  it  as  the  "pet  pup  of  a  missionary  society"  which 
would  make  of  the  church  "a  dead  old  dog."  Walsh  in  reply- 
ing, said,  Mewborne  "  is  a  good,  conscientious  and  devoted  Chris- 
tian," and  that  "he  loves  Christ  and  is  jealous  of  His  honor." 
Walsh  showed,  however,  that  the  evangelizing  project  in  no  way 
interfered  with  benevolence  in  the  local  churches  as  represented 
by  "the  fellowship";  that  the  society  was  "neither  more  nor  less 
than  individual  and  congregational  co-operation  for  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel."  Mewborne  objected  to  the  bonding  of  the 
Treasurer — Walsh  said  that  it  was  merely  good  business.  The 
controversy  was  extended8  and  Walsh  concluded:  "Since  our 
missionary  work  is  so  hotly  opposed  I  intend  to  go  to  the  bottom 
of  this  question  theoretically  and  practically  but  in  all  Christian 
affection  and  love."  He  made  his  Watch  Tower  an  outstanding 
promotional  help  for  the  Society. 

At  the  Salem  Convention,  October  11-13,  1877,  the  Society 
held  its  first  annual  meeting.9  Dr.  Walsh  reported  as  Corre- 
sponding Secretary,  that  from  membership  payments  and  offer- 
ings he  had  collected  $222.20.  He  recommended  the  employ- 
ment of  an  evangelist  and  a  field  secretary,  for  enlistment  of 
all  the  Churches.  In  conclusion  he  urged:  "Let  us  not  despise 
the  day  of  small  things,  but  let  us  press  on  in  our  missionary 
work  until  our  beloved  State  is  evangelized,  regenerated  and 
saved;  until  churches  of  Christ  holding  forth  the  word  of  life 
shall  be  established  everywhere  from  the  sea-board  to  the  utmost 
bounds  of  the  State."  J.  L.  Burns  was  appointed  State  Evan- 
gelist at  a  salary  of  thirty-three  and  a  third  dollars  per  month 
with  allowance  of  traveling  expenses.  He  was  also  to  do  the 
field  promotion  work  for  the  Society. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Missionary  Society  had  not  yet 
been  identified  with  the  State  Convention.  They  were  separate 
entities.  The  privileges  of  one  were  founded  on  paid  membership 
and  in  a  named  and  classified  missionary  group ;  the  other  on 
simple  adherence  to  some  church  of  Christ.    To  democratize  the 


132  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Society  it  had  to  become  practically  identical  with  the  Conven- 
tion.   This  transition  was  natural  and  was  soon  to  come. 

Notes 

iMinutes,  1855.  2Carolina  Christian  Monthly,  April,  1S60,  pages  78-87. 
3Watch  Tower,  Jan.,  1877,  pages  208,  209.  "Ibid.,  June,  1877,  pages  313-317. 
°Ibid.,  pages  320-323.  6Ibid.,  Dec.  1,  1S75,  page  3,  Art..  "The  Goldsboro  Mis- 
sion." 'Ibid.,  Aug.,  1877,  pages  361-363.  8Ibid.,  Oct.,  1877,  pages  409-422. 
"Ibid.,  Nov.,   1877,   pages  433-437. 


Chapter  XIV 
EISE   OF  THE   STATE  MISSIONARY  CONVENTION 

The  meetings  of  the  missionary  group  in  1877  were  of  great 
service  in  founding  the  activities  of  North  Carolina  Disciples  of 
Christ  on  an  effective  evangelical  basis.  At  that  time  they  had 
six  thousand  and  forty-seven  members  in  ninety-three  churches 
and  missions,  located  in  twenty-seven  counties  of  the  State. 
There  were  but  ten  Bible  Schools.  The  number  of  ministers  in 
charge  was  forty-four.  The  general  contribution  from  the 
churches  was  used  in  printing  Minutes.  Its  total  for  1877  was 
sixty-seven  dollars.  Under  the  new  missionary  order  there  was 
to  be  a  manifold  improvement  in  these  things  of  the  Kingdom. 

In  1878  the  Annual  Meeting  was  at  Robersonville.  Some  Dis- 
ciple leaders  were  becoming  possessed  with  missionary  convic- 
tions. Dr.  Henry  D.  Harper  introduced  a  series  of  resolutions 
which  provoked  lengthy  discussion.     They  were  as  follows: 

Resolutions  to  Convert  the  Conference  into  a  Missionary  Meeting 

Whereas:  The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  in  North 
Carolina  is  productive  of  but  little  good  in  the  furtherance  of  the  cause  of 
Christ  as  it  is  now  conducted,  And 

Whereas:  There  is  a  useless  expenditure  of  the  Lord's  money  in  the 
present  practice  of  printing  and  distributing  the  proceedings  of  the  meet- 
ing, with  but  little  good  resulting.     Therefore  be  it 

1.  Resolved,  That  we  convert  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Disciples  in 
North  Carolina  into  a  Missionary  Meeting,  in  practice  and  in  fact;  and 
that  the  contribution  from  the  churches  to  the  Minute  Fund  shall  be  used 
to  sustain  a  State  Evangelist. 

2.  Resolved,  That  instead  of  publishing  the  proceedings,  and  sending 
them  to  the  churches,  that  they  be  published  in  the  State  Papers,  and  sent 
out  to  the  world. 

3.  Resolved,  That  all  the  congregations  be  earnestly  solicited  to  contrib- 
ute far  more  liberally  than  they  have  been  doing  heretofore  (to  the  Minute 
Fund),  for  Missionary  work,  and  that  all  the  preachers  be  requested  to 
present  the  claims  of  this  missionary  cause,  and  take  up  public  collections 
quarterly  for  this  object. 

4.  Resolved,  That  the  Moderator  of  this  Conference  shall  hold  his  office 
until  a  new  election  is  had  at  the  next  Annual  Meeting. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  Moderator  have  the  appointment  of  the  Secretary 
and   Treasurer. 

133 


134  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  Moderator,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  shall  consti- 
tute a  Board  of  Managers  for  the  transaction  of  business  between  the 
Annual  Meetings  of  this  body,  and  that  they  be  required  to  report  their 
proceedings  to   each  Annual   Meeting  the  next  ensuing. 

7.  Resolved,  That  each  Conference,  on  the  report  of  a  Committee,  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose,  shall  secure  the  services  of  an  Evangelist  for  the 
general  field;  and  that  the  Board  of  Managers  have  the  power  to  supply 
his  place  in  case  of  death,  resignation,  or  unchristian  conduct." 

These  resolutions  were  referred  to  a  special  Committee  for 
their  deliberation  and  recommendation.  It  consisted  of  Willis 
R.  Williams,  J.  V.  Harper,  T.  M.  Stevens,  P.  H.  Johnson,  and 
Jordan  Wilkinson.  They  reported  the  following  substitute 
which  was  adopted. 

Whereas,  It  is  plainly  evident  that  the  cause  of  Christ  is  languishing, 
from  apathy  and  the  great  want  of  Missionary  zeal;   therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  congregations  be  requested  to  contribute  liberally  at 
the  next  Annual  Conference  for  State  evangelizing  purposes,  and  that  our 
preaching  brethren  be  requested  to  earnestly  impress  its  great  importance, 
whilst  visiting  the  brethren,  as  a  duty  which  should  not  be  willingly  neg- 
lected. 

The  first  evangelist  under  the  new  regime  was  J.  L.  Burns. 
He  reported  from  the  field  in  1878  r1  "I  have  found  very  little 
encouragement  among  our  brethren  for  mission  work.  The  uni- 
versal cry  is:  'hard  times,  no  money,  hope  to  do  something  for 
the  work  in  time,  but  can't  do  anything  now';  but  I  am  deter- 
mined to  let  them  hear  from  me  at  their  homes,  until  they  are 
aroused  from  their  lethargy."  To  the  Robersonville  Conven- 
tion that  year  in  his  first  annual  report  he  said:  "I  am  fully 
persuaded  of  the  great  good  that  the  Society  can  accomplish  by 
continuing  their  efforts  and  not  by  any  means  to  become  discour- 
aged. It  is  I  know  something  new  to  many  of  our  brethren,  but 
I  trust  it  will  not  always  be  so.  There  are  many  good  and  true 
brethren,  I  am  sure,  who  will  be  with  us  when  they  get  to  un- 
derstand the  objects  of  the  Society  more  fully,  and  their  hearts 
become  more  fully  inspired  with  the  glorious  work  of  saving  the 
lost," 

J.  J.  Harper  told  a  pathetic  story  about  the  work  of  Burns  in 
a  certain  Church.2  Burns  presented  the  State  Missionary  cause 
with  all  of  his  strength  and  earnestness  and  asked  for  an  offer- 
ing.    The  response  was  wholly  negative.     Not  a  cent  was  eon- 


RISE   OF    THE    STATE    MISSIONARY    CONVENTION  135 

tributed.  Burns  was  leaving  this  barren  field  when  he  met  a 
poor  woman,  not  a  member  of  the  church.  She  had  been  pres- 
ent during  Burns'  appeal,  and  had  seen  that  nothing  was  given 
by  the  Disciples.  Of  her  own  initiative  she  said:  "I  don't  want 
you  to  go  off  that  way.  My  Christianity  don't  lead  me  in  that 
way.  Here  is  half  of  all  the  money  I  have."  She  handed  the 
evangelist  five  cents.  Harper  said:  "She  was  a  poor  woman, 
a  widow,  alone  and  homeless,  and  who  worked  for  her  daily 
bread,  and  the  amount  she  contributed,  while  it  was  small  and 
unimportant  in  the  estimation  of  mortals,  was  doubtless  large 
and  valuable  in  the  currency  of  Heaven." 

At  the  Robersonville  Convention  of  1878  J.  J.  Harper  made 
his  first  report  also  as  Corresponding  Secretary.  In  it  he  said : 
"There  is  great  apathy  among  a  large  majority  of  Disciples  in 
this  State  on  the  subject  of  Missions;  and  this  is  the  first  'stone 
to  be  rolled  away, '  in  order  to  reach  success.  It  is  all  important 
that  we  do  not  relax  our  hold  nor  relinquish  our  efforts  in  this 
work.  Our  success  in  missionary  work  depends  upon  holding 
the  ground  we  have  gained ;  and  our  success  and  life  as  a  people 
in  this  State  depends  upon  whether  or  not  we  shall  prove  our- 
selves a  missionary  people." 

The  Missionary  work  was  moving  off  with  a  slow  start.  In 
1878,  a  writer  in  the  Watch  Tower  said:3  "The  time  has  come 
when  we  need  a  radical  change  in  the  manner  of  operations  in 
North  Carolina.  "What  have  we  gained  in  the  last  three  or  four 
years  ?  We  have  increased  in  numbers  and  decreased  in  finances ; 
and  as  long  as  this  state  of  affairs  exists  we  cannot  hope  to  do 
much  for  the  cause  of  Christ."  To  this  J.  Z.  Tyler,  of  Rich- 
mond, Virginia,  responded:  "Come  over  to  the  meeting  of  the 
Virginia  Christian  Missionary  Society  the  first  of  next  month 
and  you  may  find  something  which  will  suit  you  better."  To 
which  Dr.  "Walsh  replied : 

We  have  a  Christian  Missionary  Society  somewhat  like  the  Virginia 
Society  organized  over  twelve  months  ago ;  and  we  have  had  two  evangelists 
in  the  field  part  of  the  time,  but  our  "sad  wail"  is,  that  we  cannot  induce 
our  people  to  take  hold  of  it  and  co-operate.  Wherever  a  certain  paper 
(The  American  Christian  Beview)  published  in  Cincinnati,  exerts  an  in- 
fluence among  us,  the  very  idea  of  organized  co-operative  effort  seems  to 
create  alarm  for  the  safety  of  the  church.  But  we  pray  and  hope  for 
better  times. 


136  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

As  the  work  developed  there  was  increased  statistical  detail 
for  each  Conference  to  handle  in  clerical  routine.  This  was  a 
fine  utility  in  its  proper  sphere,  although  it  began  to  trespass 
on  the  convention  periods  needed  for  inspiration.  In  1879  there 
was  adopted  the  following  resolution  :4 

"Whereas,  much  valuable  time  is  consumed  at  our  Confer- 
ences, to  the  wearying  of  the  delegates  and  visitors,  in  reading 
the  letters  from  the  different  churches;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  at  the  very  beginning  of  our  next  Conference 
a  Committee  of  Finance  and  Church  Statistics  be  appointed,  to 
whom  the  letters  shall  be  referred,  instead  of  being  read  as  here- 
tofore. ' ' 

That  the  missionary  spirit  continued  to  grow  is  evident  from 
the  "Remarks"  of  J.  L.  Winfield  appended  to  the  Conference 
Minutes  of  1880.    He  said: 

Thus  has  come  and  gone  one  of  our  most  pleasant  and  social  Confer- 
ences. The  proceedings  were  marked  throughout  with  brotherly  love  and 
Christian  greetings  and  we  have  occasion  to  thank  a  wise  and  merciful 
Providence  that  we  have  been  abundantly  blessed  the  past  year  with  a 
rich  harvest,  and  to  see  many  of  our  brethren  alive  to  the  Missionary  cause, 
and  resolve  to  continue  Bro.  H.  C.  Bowen  in  the  Northeastern  counties  for 
the  ensuing  Conference  year.  It  is  highly  important  that  we  should  remem- 
ber our  January  collection,  and  make  such  a  liberal  contribution  that  it 
will  swell  the  heart  of  our  Evangelist.  There  are  cries  from  all  parts  of 
the  State  for  more  laborers,  and  we  thank  God  that  we  have  enough  to 
supply  every  demand  if  our  hearts  would  only  open  and  divide  sacrifices 
with  them. 

The  offerings,  however,  were  small.  This  was  shown  in  the 
report  of  C.  W.  Howard,  Corresponding  Secretary.  It  was 
couched  in  thirty-nine  words ;  the  shortest  report  of  its  kind  ever 
made  among  North  Carolina  Disciples.  He  reported  an  annual 
total  of  $112.00.  With  this  was  sustained  J.  L,  Winfield,  Evan- 
gelist, for  four  months,  and  E.  E.  Orvis,  for  a  special  meeting. 

At  the  next  Convention  (1881),  there  was  agitation  of  the 
need  in  the  churches  of  an  intensive  leadership  to  be  effected  by 
a  system  of  resident  pastorates,  or  its  practical  equivalent  in 
group  evangelism.     The  following  resolution  was  adopted: 

Whereas,  We  the  committee  on  churches  and  finance,  find  contributed 
to  the  minute  fund  $96.20  and  to  the  mission  fund  $17.25.  And,  whereas, 
the  irregular  and  disorderly  system  under  which  we  labor  is  the  source  of 


RISE    OF    THE    STATE    MISSIONARY    CONVENTION  137 

much  inconvenience  in  obtaining  reports  from  the  churches  to  the  Annual 
Conference,  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  Conference  the  imperative  necessity 
of  arranging  all  our  churches  into  convenient  Evangelical  Districts,  so  our 
congregations  can  have  more  and  better  care. 

Resolved,  That  the  Moderator  of  this  Conference  appoint  a  Committee 
of  ten  or  more,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  make  out  a  list  of  the  churches 
from  the  minutes,  arranging  them  into  Evangelical  Districts,  and  submit 
the  same  to  this  Conference. 

N.  S.  Richardson,  J.  W.  Hodges,  Theophiltjs  Keel,  Committee. 

This  action  was  at  once  put  into  effect.  An  Assignment  Board 
of  twelve  was  appointed  by  the  Moderator.  They  grouped  the 
churches  into  twenty-two  ''evangelical"  units.  Further  they 
assigned  the  pastor  or  "evangelist,"  as  they  designated  him,  to 
each  unit.  In  some  respects  this  method  of  centralized  control 
made  for  efficiency.  There  was  a  thoroughness  and  definiteness 
in  it  which  commended  it.  As  a  result  many  churches  had  bet- 
ter preaching  and  pastoral  supervision.  The  state  organization 
was  more  compact  and  articulate  with  it.  But  the  spirit  of 
independence  and  aggressiveness  inbred  in  the  Disciples  would 
not  long  withstand  the  self-restraint  and  sacrificial  co-operation 
inherent  in  this  system.  Perhaps  also  there  might  not  always 
have  been  a  wise  administration.  It  was  abolished  in  the  State 
Convention  by  the  following  resolution  in  1885 : 

Whereas,  It  is  evident  that  there  is,  among  our  brethren,  great  dissatis- 
faction and  discontent,  growing  out  of  what  is  known  as  the  "District 
Plan, ' '  We,  the  Board  of  Managers,  recommend  that  Article  VI,  of  the 
Constitution  of  this  Convention  be  abolished,  and  that  the  following  be  sub- 
stituted in  place  of  it : 

Art.  VI,  Each  congregation  belonging  to  this  Convention  may  adopt 
such  method  of  supplying  itself  with  preaching  as  it  may  deem  most  prac- 
ticable. 

Dr.  John  T.  Walsh,  in  his  Living  Age  had  expressed  his  sen- 
timents on  "The  District  Plan,"  in  February,  1885,  as  follows:5 

This  Plan  has  now  been  in  operation  going  on  three  years,  yet  it  has 
not  met  the  expectations  of  its  most  sanguine  friends.  Our  ecclesiastics, 
if  we  have  any,  are  not  suited  to  any  such  Plan.  There  is  no  authority 
among  us  to  say  to  this  preacher,  "Go,"  and  he  goeth;  nor  to  that  church, 
"Receive  him,"  and  he  is  reecived.  The  result  has  been  that  some  preach- 
ers have  refused  to  go,  and  others,  who  would  go,  have  been  rejected  by  the 
churches.  Frequent  changes  are  made,  both  by  preachers  and  churches, 
and  the  whole  thing  becomes  uncertain,   and   does  not   work  harmoniously 


138  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

and  effectively.  Besides,  the  Evangelical  Committee,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
assign  preachers  to  districts,  are  often  pressed  by  preachers  and  their 
friends,  for  certain  places  or  districts,  deemed  by  them  most  desirable, 
and  considerable  partiality  is  shown,  and  no  little  log-rolling  is  mixed 
up  with  the  whole  matter. 

And  that  the  Plan  is  not  of  divine  authority  is  undeniable.  If  it 
worked  well,  all  that  can  be  said  of  it,  is,  it  is  a  human  Plan  for  doing 
the  Lord's  work.  With  all  the  light  before  me,  aided  by  a  close  obser- 
vation of  the  plan  and  its  working  among  us,  I  think  it  impracticable, 
even  if  well  managed;  and  it  has  been  badly  managed  by  us,  by  both 
churches  and  preachers.  The  best  thing  we  can  do,  is  to  fall  back  on 
the  old  plan,  and  let  the  churches  select  their  own  evangelists.  But  if  they 
had  Scriptural  Elders  or  Bishops,  they  could,  and  ought  to  dispense  with 
evangelists,  and  let  them  go  to  the  general  field.  The  churches  would 
then  be  self-sustaining,  and  in  every  way  more  in  accord  with  the  Gospel 
model. 

That  the  missionary  service  might  utilize  the  "District 
Plan,"  the  following  was  adopted  in  the  1882  Convention. 

"Whereas,  Our  district  plan  makes  no  provision  for  enlarg- 
ing our  Missionary  work  beyond  the  evangelical  districts;  and 
Whereas,  we  believe  that  the  church  cannot  discharge  its  mis- 
sion if  it  neglects  general  missionary  work;  therefore,  Resolved, 
That  all  our  Evangelists  be  requested  to  preach  a  discourse  on 
home  and  foreign  missions  during  the  evangelical  year,  and 
collections  be  taken  up  for  Missionary  purposes." 

This  was  a  thoughtful  and  diligent  preparation  of  the  field 
It  was  to  help  make  possible  the  identifying  of  the  State  Mis- 
sionary organization  with  the  State  Convention  proper  in  the 
epochal  year,  1883.  F.  M.  Green  for  five  years,  (1877-1882), 
had  served  the  American  Christian  Missionary  Society  as  Cor- 
responding Secretary.  He  was  still  serving  as  an  organizer  in 
the  field.  Also  he  was  gathering  data  for  his  "Historical 
Sketches  of  Missionary  Societies  Among  Disciples  of  Christ," 
which  came  from  the  press  in  1884.  He  was  forty-seven  years 
of  age ;  a  native  of  Ohio.  He  came  to  North  Carolina  a  few 
weeks  before  the  Disciples'  Convention  at  Antioch,  (Farmville), 
October  10-14,  1883.  He  spoke  in  the  following  churches: 
Kinston,  Pleasant  Hill,  Riehlands,  Deep  Spring,  Wheat  Swamp, 
Hookerton,  Salem,  Riverside,  Old  Ford,  Beaver  Dam,  Union 
Chapel,  (Beaufort  Co.),  and  Pantego.  He  was  accompanied 
on  various  parts  of  his  trip  by  H.  C.  Bowen.  D.  W.  Davis, 
J.  L.  Winfield,  and  J.  W.  Hodges. 


RISE   OF    THE    STATE    MISSIONARY    CONVENTION  139 

J.  L.  Winfield  spoke  editorially  in  his  Watch  Tower  :fi 

We  had  heard  that  Brother  Green  and  his  Missionary  brethren  were 
about  to  surrender  the  old  landmarks  and  go  over  soul  and  body  to  Bab- 
ylon. We  are  confident  that  this  charge  is  slander;  for  no  man  is  holding 
stronger  and  closer  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  reformative 
movement  than  Frank  M.  Green.  His  work  is  an  open  book  *  *  * 
He  is  thoroughly  missionary.  Every  drop  of  blood  which  courses  his 
veins  is  invigorated  with  the  Missionary  spirit.     *     *     * 

Bro.  Green's  visit  will  add.  largely  to  our  Missionary  zeal.  It  will 
make  us  broader  in  our  views,  and  link  us  with  the  great  body  of  Dis- 
ciples in  the  West.  It  is  a  burning  shame  that  we  have  been  so  ignorant 
of  each  other.  A  better  and  more  intimate  acquaintance  will  have  a  re- 
flex influence  and  place  us  where  we  can  better  and  more  effectually  work 
for  the  Master. 

The  Disciples  in  North  Carolina  are  by  no  means  an  anti-missionary 
people.  They  need  good  and  safe  leaders,  and  they  will  follow  in  any 
line  that  will  advance  the  cause  of  our  Redeemer  and  glorify  the  name 
of  our  Heavenly  Father.  We  are  woefully  deficient  in  organization.  Our 
system  for  raising  funds  for  the  cause  of  missions,  is  no  system  at  all. 
It  is  tangled,  confused  and  inexplicable,  something  that  we  cannot  ex- 
plain. We  hope  for  better  things;  better  organization  and  better  methods 
of  sending  out  the  word  of  life. 

The  old  Antioch  Church  in  which  the  Disciples  gathered  in 
this  convention  of  1883  was  historic.  It  was  there  twenty-six 
years  before  that  they  had  adopted  their  first  State  Constitu- 
tion. The  little  frame  structure  stood  at  the  crossroads  on  the 
present  site  of  the  Farmville  Christian  Church.  It  was  in  the 
midst  of  what  has  later  become  one  of  the  richest  farm  product 
areas  in  the  world.  This  part  of  Pitt  County  had  some  of  the 
oldest  Disciple  families  of  the  State.  They  had  been  large  con- 
tributors in  the  Disciples'  general  program.  The  atmosphere 
was  good  for  a  forward  movement. 

J.  J.  Harper,  the  Moderator,  appointed  the  following  com- 
mittee to  draft  a  new  Constitution:  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh,  E.  A. 
Moye,  George  Joyner,  J.  L.  Burns,  and  Josephus  Latham.  The 
Constitution  as  adopted  contained  the  following  new  features  as 
compared  with  1877:  (1)  Change  of  name  to  the  North  Caro- 
lina Christian  Missionary  Convention.  (2)  Extension  of  privi- 
lege to  raise  funds  for  evangelizing  other  fields  as  well  as  North 
Carolina.  (3)  Its  membership  should  consist  of  delegates  from 
the  churches;  also  those  contributing  to  the  treasury,  on  basis 
of  two  dollars  per  year  for  annual  membership,  or  twenty  dol- 


140  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

lars  total  for  life  membership.  (4)  The  officers  should  be 
President,  Vice  President,  Recording  Secretary,  Corresponding 
Secretary  and  Treasurer,  elected  annually.  (5)  Local  grouping 
plan  by  the  convention,  to  continue  in  force  where  no  objection 
was  raised;  the  convention  to  assign  a  pastor  to  each  group 
annually.  (6)  Board  of  Managers  was  to  consist  of  nine  men, 
elected  annually,  and  the  convention  officers.  (7)  The  cor- 
responding Secretary  was  to  be  an  Executive  Secretary  to  the 
Board  of  Managers,  assembling  funds  and  remitting  to  the  Treas- 
urer, and  making  report  of  all  operations  of  the  Board  to  each 
annual  convention.  The  Corresponding  Secretary  might  also  do 
the  work  of  a  General  Evangelist. 

Under  this  Constitution,  the  first  Convention  officers  elected 
were :  President,  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh  ;  Vice  President,  M.  T.  Moye ; 
Recording  Secretary,  J.  V.  Harper;  Corresponding  Secretary, 
J.  J.  Harper;  Treasurer,  E.  A.  Moye.  The  full  Board  of  Man- 
agers were,  President,  M.  T.  Moye,  J.  L.  Burns,  I.  L.  Chestnutt, 
Dr.  R.  W.  King,  H.  C.  Bowen,  J.  L.  Winfield,  H.  Brown,  H.  S. 
Davenport,  Henry  Winfield,  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh,  J.  V.  Harper, 
J.  J.  Harper,  and  E.  A.  Moye.  The  first  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Managers  was  held  in  Wilson. 

In  1888  the  financial  basis  of  membership  in  the  Convention 
was  abolished.  It  has  since  operated  plainly  as  a  pure  democ- 
racy. In  this  Convention  of  1888  there  was  also  given  the  order 
to  incorporate  the  Convention  under  the  laws  of  North  Carolina 
that  it  might  be  empowered  to  receive,  hold  and  convey 
property.  To  safeguard  the  property  interests  of  certain  local 
churches  for  the  good  of  the  Brotherhood  as  a  whole,  this  was 
necessary.  Then  property  might  be  deeded  to  the  North  Caro- 
lina Christian  Missionary  Convention  and  it  would  be  thus  safe- 
guarded. An  Act  of  Incorporation  was  presented  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  and  ratified  March  9,  1889.  It  is  printed  as 
Chapter  149.  "The  body  corporate  and  politic  with  perpetual 
succession"  as  at  first  constituted  were:  C.  W.  Howard,  S.  H. 
Rountree,  E.  A.  Moye,  D.  W.  Davis,  J.  R.  Tingle,  J.  L.  Winfield, 
N.  S.  Richardson,  J.  M.  Mewborne,  H.  D.  Harper,  and  S.  I. 
Wooten,  and  "their  associates."  They  Avere  empowered  to  use 
a  common  seal  and  were  "invested  with  all  the  powers  and 
privileges  necessary  for  conducting  missionary  and  other  re- 
ligious work  in  this  State." 


RISE   OF    THE    STATE    MISSIONARY    CONVENTION  141 

In  the  earlier  years  of  the  North  Carolina  Christian  Mission- 
ary Convention,  special  attention  was  given  to  extensive  evan- 
gelizing. In  1884,  Dr.  Walsh,  then  nearly  seventy  years  of  age, 
was  made  an  evangelist  at  large.  Before  his  death  in  1886  he 
covered  Hyde,  Tyrrell,  and  Pamlico  Comities  on  this  mission. 
Men  who  later  gave  their  major  service  in  this  capacity  were 
J.  L.  Burns,  R.  W.  Stancill,  D.  E.  Motley,  G.  A.  Reynolds, 
H.  C.  Bowen,  D.  W.  Davis,  and  W.  G.  Walker. 

The  prime  necessity,  however,  was  a  superintendent  of  mis- 
sions, who  as  an  executive  secretary  might  finance  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Board  of  Managers  with  stability  and  adequacy,  and 
conserve  the  work  in  process  of  permanent  establishment.  This 
was  aptly  expressed  in  the  report  of  the  Evangelizing  Committee 
in  the  Convention  of  1902.    They  said: 

We  urge  the  election  of  a  Corresponding  Secretary,  whose  duty  shall 
be:  1.  To  visit  all  the  churches  unless  the  local  pastor  will  collect  the 
funds,  for  State  work.  2.  Group  weak  churches  and  help  them  to  se- 
cure pastors.  3.  Have  oversight  of  all  mission  points.  4.  Strengthen 
Sunday  Schools,  hold  meetings,  locate  missionary  pastors — "Do  the  work 
of  an  evangelist. ' '  We  further  recommend  that  every  possible  effort  be 
made  to  raise  the  salary  of  the  Corresponding  Secretary  by  private  sub- 
scription, and  that  he  be  employed  and  put  to  work  at  once. 

In  the  Convention  of  1908  at  Kinston,  J.  W.  Hines  presided. 
In  his  address  he  recommended  that  the  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary be  not  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  but  rather  an 
employee  of  that  Board  to  which  he  should  be  responsible.  The 
Board  in  turn  should  be  responsible  to  the  Convention.  This 
recommendation  was  put  into  effect  by  the  Convention.  Its 
wisdom  has  been  apparent.  Another  suggestion  Mr.  Hines  then 
made  was  to  have  nine  members  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  with 
terms  of  three  members  expiring  each  year.  This  made  it  nec- 
essary for  the  Convention  to  elect  a  third  of  the  Board  each 
year.    This  was  put  into  effect  and  is  also  a  wise  provision. 

Notes 

aWatch  Tower,  March,  1878,  pages  67,  68.  ^Missionary  Weekly,  Rich- 
mond, Va.,  April  5,  1888,  page  5.  »Watch  Tower,  Oct.,  1878,  pages  232, 
233.  •'Minutes,  1879.  "Walsh's  Living  Age,  Feb.,  1885,  page  76.  Watch 
Tower,   Oct.  17,  1883,   page  2. 


Chapter  XV 

CONVENTIONS  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

The  decade  starting  with  1870  was  marked  as  a  period  of 
beginnings  in  aggressive  co-operative  expansion  of  North  Caro- 
lina Disciples  of  Christ.  The  War  Between  the  States  had 
caused  a  stupendous  social  and  economic  loss.  For  a  period  the 
State  had  more  soldiers  in  the  Confederacy  than  it  had  voters. 
Much  of  her  best  blood  was  sacrificed.  Her  losses  at  Gettysburg 
and  Chickamauga  were  notably  heavy.  She  was  "first  at  Bethel 
and  last  at  Appomattox."  Invading  armies  in  the  State  left 
devastation  in  their  wake.  The  "carpet-bag"  rule  added  insult 
and  augmented  poverty.  In  their  humiliation  the  people  made 
their  civil  readjustments.  In  this  breaking  up  of  the  old  order, 
religion  also  was  affected.  It  changed  its  emphases.  There  was 
larger  outlook,  more  aggressiveness,  and  better  understanding 
of  the  power  of  co-operation. 

Since  this  period  is  one  of  basic  alignments  in  the  expansion 
ideals  of  the  Disciples  which  has  continued  for  a  half-century, 
it  is  well  for  the  reader  to  observe  what  some  of  the  active  par- 
ticipants said  in  critical  revieAV  of  the  Conventions  of  that  epoch. 
This  will  give  one  an  authentic  interpretation  of  the  social, 
economic,  and  religious  aspects  of  it. 

The  Convention  for  1871,  met  at  Aiitioch  (Farmville),  Oc- 
tober 5-8.    Dr.  John  T.  Walsh  reported  it  as  follows:1 

We  have  just  returned  from  the  State  Meeting  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ,  North  Carolina.  Upon  the  whole,  it  was  a  pleasant  and  profit- 
able occasion.  We  sojourned  with  Brother  Wm.  Joyner  during  the  meeting, 
and  spent  a  very  pleasant  time  with  his  kind  and  amiable  family.  Sister 
Joyner  is  one  of  the  best  of  women.  We  were  delighted  to  meet  with 
many  kind  friends,  brethren  and  sisters,  some  of  whom  we  had  not  seen 
for  years.  We  heard  all  the  discourses  preached  except  the  first,  or  in- 
troductory. 

We  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  our  brethren,  L.  Summerlin,  J.  L.  Win- 
field,  M.  T.  Moye,  A.  J.  Holton,  and  some  others.  Brother  Summerlin 
is  a  young  disciple  of  respectable  attainments,  and  fine  preaching  abilities, 
and  is  destined  to  make  ' '  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed, 
rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth. ' ' 

Brother  J.  L.  Winfield  is  a  young  preacher  of  studious  habits,  and  if 
life  lasts,  will  do  much  good  service  in  the  cause  of  his  Master. 

Brother  M.  T.  Moye  is  a  young  Christian  warrior  of  fine  literary  attain- 
ments, good  scholarship,  and  understands  the  gospel  well;  and  is  destined, 

142 


CONVENTIONS   IN    THE    SEVENTIES  143 

if  he  lives,  to  make  and  leave  a  decided   impression  upon  the  community 
in  which   he   moves   and   labors.     Brother   Holton   acquitted   himself   well. 

With  the  kindest  Christian  regards  for  all  who  preached,  the  occasion 
calls  for  the  statement,  that  the  committee,  having  in  charge  the  appoint- 
ment of  preachers  to  address  the  people,  neither  displayed  good  taste  nor 
judgment,  in  every  case.  On  important  occasions,  when  hundreds  of  the 
people  opposed  to  our  views  are  assembled  to  hear  an  exhibition  of  the 
truths  we  advocate,  it  is  certainly  our  wisdom  to  select  those  men  who 
are  best  qualified  by  age  and  experience  to  present  the  high  claims  of  the 
gospel. 

On  Lord's  day  morning,  Brother  Taylor,  of  Wilson,  North  Carolina, 
made  some  remarks  alike  creditable  to  his  head  and  heart;  but  he  is  a 
young  convert,  and  as  men  are  not  now  inspired,  and  as  it  takes  time  to 
learn  the  lessons  of  divine  truth,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  he  should  have 
confessed  his  embarrassment  at  beholding  around  him,  in  the  congrega- 
tion, the  aged  veterans  of  the  cross,  some  of  whom  had  been  preaching 
for  thirty-five  and  forty  years.  It  was,  indeed,  a  strange  and  unusual 
spectacle,  and  was,  no  doubt,  so  regarded  by  a  large  majority  of  that  large 
congregation. 

Elder  Allen  followed  Brother  Taylor  and  said  some  very  good  things, 
but  in  our  judgment  got  "the  keys"  very  much  tangled  up.  He  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  it  was  keys  in  the  plural,  and  not  ' '  key, ' '  in 
the  singular.  He  represented  these  keys  as  first  given  to  P'eter,  then  to  all 
the  Apostles,  and  finally  to  the  Church;  and  the  first  key  was  faith,  and 
the  second  repentance,  and  the  third  baptism. 

With  the  kindest  regards  for  Elder  Allen,  we  must  be  allowed  to  say 
that  the  keys  were  simply  the  symbol  of  authority — and  nothing  more; 
and  that  they  were  really  given  to  Peter  alone.  And  the  reason  why  the 
plural  was  used  instead  of  the  singular,  was,  that  Peter  was  not  invested 
with  partial  but  full  and  complete  authority  to  open  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  One  key  would  be  the  symbol  of  partial  authority,  and  keys,  in 
the  plural,  the  symbol  of  full  or  complete  authority.  This,  and  nothing 
more,  is  the  meaning  of  the  keys.  Peter  used  them  and  returned  them 
to  his  Master,  not  passing  them  over  to  the  rest  of  the  Apostles,  nor  hand- 
ing them  down  to  the  Church  or  any  successor  whatever. 

Elder  Allen  made  another  remark  which  we  could  not  help  thinking 
he  had  learned  in  some  other  school  than  the  school  of  Christ.  He  spoke 
of  passing  through  "the  first,  second,  third,  and  fourth  wards  before 
reaching  the  sanctum  sanctorum."  Now  there  was  only  one  veil  between 
the  Holy  and  most  Holy  place,  and  where  he  learned  about  passing 
through  four  wards  before  reaching  the  sanctum  sanctorum  is  left  for  the 
reader  to  imagine.  It  is  very  important  "rightly  to  divide  the  word  of 
truth,"  and  these  hints  are  kindly  tendered  to  Brother  Allen. 

I  regret  to  state  that  there  was  obviously  an  undercurrent  of  Masonic 
prejudice  operating  upon  some  of  the  disciples  present,  apparent  to  any 
one  with  a  discerning  eye;  and  it  is  our  opinion  that  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  give  a  few  prejudiced  disciples  of  the  Masonic  school  a  little 
more    rope,    and    their    conduct    will    produce    a    reaction    of    which    thev 


144  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

little  dream.  The  head  aud  front  of  our  offending  is,  that  we  are  opposed 
to  Christians  adhering  to  any  such  institution ;  and  while  they  claim  the 
right  to  have  orations,  sermons,  and  lecturers  in  favor  of,  we  must  not 
utter  one  word  against  the  institution!  We  are  persecuted  for  our  op- 
position to  Christians  taking  extra-judicial  oaths,  and  participating  in 
rites  and  ceremonies  utterly  at  war  with  primitive  Christianity!  May  God 
give  us  grace  to  be  prudent  and  firm. 

The  services  were  closed  on  Lord's  day  10  to  15  minutes  before  twelve, 
and  the  solemn  worship  of  Christ  in  the  supper,  usually  attended  to  on 
such  occasions,  was  not  observed,  as  it  should  have  been,  to  the  joy  of 
the  hundreds  of  disciples  present. 

In  a  word,  the  meeting  ended  prematurely  and  hastily,  numbers  hav- 
ing arrived  after  the  services  were  closed;  and  its  sun  rather  set  in  a 
cloud. 

The  reference  of  Dr.  Walsh  to  the  Masons,  appearing  in  the 
above,  represented  his  individual  opposition  to  secret  societies. 
As  membership  in  the  Churches  was  projected  on  a  scriptural 
basis,  Masonry,  of  course,  was  never  permitted  to  become  a  test 
of  fellowship  among  Disciples. 

In  the  Seventies  it  was  customary  for  a  "Committee  on 
Preachers  and  Themes,"  to  function  in  each  convention,  to 
outline  an  agenda  a  year  in  advance  for  the  succeeding  Conven- 
tion. The  following  was  a  typical  report  of  this  Committee 
adopted  in  the  Convention  of  1875,  for  use  at  Wheat  Swamp  in 
the  Convention  of  1876  : 

We  your  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  of  Preachers 
and  Themes  for  the  next  Annual  Meeting  beg  leave  to  report  the  fol- 
lowing. 

Thursday,   October   5,   1876 
Josephus  Latham   (Introductory)   "Church  Edification,"  11  o'clock  A.  M. 
M.  T.  Moye,  ' '  A  Pure  Religious  Literature, "  2  o  'clock  P.  M. 
Henry    Winfield,    "Foundation    of    the    Xew    Institution,''    at    night. 

Friday,  October  6,  1876 
J.  J.  Harper,  "Lord's  Day  Schools,"  11  A.  M. 
George  Joyner,  "Persecutions  of  the  Church,"  2  P.  M. 
Dr.  H.  D.  Harper.  "Office  of  an  Evangelist,"  at  night. 

Saturday,  October  7,  1876 
Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh,  "The  Church— its  Identity,"   11   o'clock  A.  M. 
J.  H.  Foy,  "Our  Position,"  2  P.  M. 
J.  L.  Winfield,  "Bight  or  Wrong?"  at  night. 

Lord's  Day,  October   8,  1876 
J.  L.  Burns   (Annual  Sermon)   "Christian  Union." 


George  Joyner,  1823-188? 


Amos  Johnston  Battle,  1805-1870 


CONVENTIONS    IN    THE   SEVENTIES  145 

By  1877,  the  enthusiasm  for  an  effective  missionary  method 
was  in  the  air.  That  year  the  Disciples'  Convention  met  at 
Salem  in  Pitt  County,  October  11-14.  Doctor  Walsh  was  en- 
couraged by  the  spirit  which  prevailed.  In  a  postscript  to  the 
Minutes  he  said :  ' '  Thus  ended  a  very  harmonious  session  of  our 
Annual  Meeting.  May  there  be  an  increase  of  brotherly  love 
and  kindly  affection ;  and  may  bitterness,  jealousy,  envying,  and 
ill-will  be  banished  far  from  our  hearts ;  and  may  we  all  labor 
together  with  one  heart,  one  soul,  and  one  mouth,  in  the  cause 
of  our  blessed  Lord,  and  unitedly  grow  up  into  Him  who  is 
the  great  head  of  the  Church." 

The  following  account  of  the  1877  Convention  was  given  by 
a  writer  in  the  Watch  Tower,  the  signature  of  whom  was  "A 
Visitor. '  '2 

I  was  in  time  on  Thursday  to  hear  the  introductory  sermon,  preached 
by  Elder  Isaac  Ch.estn.utt,  who  preached  a  simple,  plain  and  instructive 
discourse  on  the  subject :  "  If  ye  love  me  keep  my  commandments. ' '  His 
words  were  calmly  and  quietly  spoken,  but  with  sufficient  force  to  make 
many  of  us  feel  like  our  past  course  indicated  that  we  had  not  loved  our 
Maker  as  we  ought.  Mr.  Chestnutt  is  a  young  man  in  the  ministry,  and 
is  rapidly  growing  in  the  esteem  of  his  brethren.  He  is  destined  to  make 
a  good  and  useful  man,  if  he  continues  in  the  course  he  has  commenced. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  introductory  discourse,  the  Convention  was  called 
to  order  by  the  Moderator,  Doctor  "Walsh,  and  went  at  once  to  business. 
After  the  adjournment  of  the  Convention,  the  visitors  and  delegates  ac- 
cepted the  kind  invitation  of  the  citizens,  cordially  extended,  and  left  the 
church  house  to  return  at  night  to  hear  another  sermon.  At  night  Brother 
H.  C.  Bowen,  a  boy  in  age  and  in  looks,  but  a  man  in  every  other  respect, 
preached  us  a  very  interesting  discourse,  many  expressed  themselves  as 
being  delighted  with  his  efforts.  Brother  Bowen  is  still  continuing  his 
studies  at  school,  under  Brother  Latham.  We  hope  that  he  will  fully 
come  up  to  the  expectations  of  his  enthusiastic  friends. 

On  Friday,  arrangements  were  made  for  two  sermons.  At  eleven  o  'clock, 
Elder  J.  J.  Harper  preached  a  sermon  highly  creditable.  It  was  con- 
sidered a  masterly  effort.  Those  who  heard  Brother  Harper  need  but 
little  to  convince  them  that  his  sermon  was  worth  the  attention  of  a  large 
audience.  After  preaching,  we  partook  of  the  refreshments,  which  were 
abundantly  spread  over  the  ground  in  baskets  and  tablecloths.  This 
being  over  with,  after  ' '  a  few  moments ' '  chat  with  friends,  relatives  and 
sweethearts,  we  returned  to  the  stand  to  hear  Brother  C.  W.  Howard,  who 
had  been  appointed  to  preach  at  two  o  'clock.  He  spoke  of  the  great  work 
which  the  WTord  of  God  performed  in  the  salvation  of  man.  He  demon- 
strated the  fact,  notwithstanding  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  all  knowledge 
concerning    our    eternal    salvation,    is    obtained    from    the    written    Word. 


146  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Brother  Howard  is  a  young  man,  and  a  tutor  in  the  Kinston  Collegiate 
Institute.     Those  convenient  would  do  well  to   patronize  him. 

On  Friday  night  we  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  Brother  A.  J.  Holton, 
who  preached  an  earnest,  zealous  and  pathetic  discourse.  This  is  the 
first  time  I  ever  heard  Brother  Holton.  I  was  pleased  with  his  efforts. 
I  have  understood  that  much  of  his  time  is  employed  on  his  farm,  which 
prevents  him  from  doing  what  he  might  do  under  different  circumstances. 

On  Saturday  morning  it  was  announced  that  we  would  again  have  two 
sermons.  At  eleven  o'clock  we  repaired  to  the  stand  to  hear  Dr.  H.  D. 
Harper,  who  had  been  appointed  to  preach  at  that  hour.  Brother  Harper 
preached  with  his  usual  simplicity  of  speech,  and  unanswerable  reasoning. 
Brother  Harper  is  a  Dentist  by  profession,  and  travels  most  of  his  time, 
preaching  and  operating  on  teeth.  He  ought  to  be  patronized  by  all 
who  need  work  in  his  line,  and  are  in  his  reach. 

After  Brother  Harper's  sermon,  all  hands  accepted  an  invitation  to 
dine.  After  dinner,  and  a  few  moments'  recreation,  we  again  assembled 
at  the  stand,  where  we  heard  Prof.  Jos.  H.  Foy,  of  the  Wilson  Female 
Seminary.  His  sermon,  on  ' '  The  church  as  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth, ' '  was  a  masterly  demonstration  of  an  important  truth.  Brother 
Foy  is  one  of  the  finest  educators  in  North  Carolina.  He  is  now  Senior 
Principal  in  Wilson  Female  Collegiate  Seminary,  and  well  deserves  the 
patronage  of  all. 

Saturday  night  the  venerable  Dr.  Walsh  discoursed  to  us,  and  so 
clearly  did  he  show  the  duty  of  Christians  in  reference  to  sending  out  mis- 
sionaries that  it  is  hard  to  see  how  those  who  heard  him  can  neglect  this 
duty.  The  Doctor  is  called  the  "old  man  eloquent,"  and  well  does  he 
deserve  the  name.  His  attainments  in  Biblical  knowledge  are  not  inferior 
to  those  of  any  man  in  the  State.  He  is  a  graceful  and  effective  speaker. 
The  brethren  should  never  allow  him  to  lack  for  anything  which  is  in 
their  power  to  bestow. 

Sunday  morning  we  again  listened  to  an  eloquent  discourse  from  Elder 
Foy,  which  was  very  instructive  and  pleasant  to  hear.  After  this  all  com- 
menced making  preparations  for  going  homeward.  Everybody  was  pleased, 
and,  altogether,  a  more  harmonious  session  of  a  religious  body  was  never 
held  in  the  State.  There  was  a  large  gathering  of  people,  and  a  good 
attendance  of  ministers.  The  people  of  that  far  famed  section  exhibited  a 
prodigal  hospitality.  If  preachers,  delegates  and  visitors,  do  not  suffer  with 
dyspepsia,  in  a  malignant  form,  it  will  not  be  the  fault  of  the  free  hearted 
entertainers.  This  is  one  of  the  most  desirable  sections  of  North  Carolina. 
The  lands  are  rich,  the  men  are  above  the  average  size,  the  women  fair, 
and  "very  fair,"  and  all  the  good  things  of  life  abound.  I  noticed  that 
fine  horses  are  unusually  abundant — one  of  the  best  indications  that  a 
country  is  flourishing. 

In  conclusion  I  wish  to  say,  that  the  Disciples  of  North  Carolina  have 
the  means  for  doing  a  great  work,  if  they  would  only  use  them.  They  have 
preachers  that  will  compare  favorably  with  any  class  of  preachers  in  this 
State,  or  any  other  State.     If  we  don't  succeed,  who  is  to  blame?     It  can- 


CONVENTIONS   IN    THE   SEVENTIES  147 

not  be  the  preachers,  for  they  are  doing  all  they  can.  They  are  supporting 
themselves  and  preaching  the  Gospel  besides.  I  noticed  in  the  Missionary 
Society  more  preachers,  according  to  the  number,  have  invested  their  fives 
and  tens  than  those  who  are  not  preachers.  Shall  this  continue?  Will  the 
Disciples  of  North  Carolina  allow  the  cause  of  Christ  to  languish  on  account 
of  their  indifference  to  its  claims?  Will  those  who  have  means  to  procure 
all  things  else  they  need,  suffer  a  few  men  to  neglect  their  families  and 
wear  out  their  lives  in  the  defence  of  the  truth,  and  not  offer  them  a  help- 
ing hand?  Nay.  God  forbid  that  such  should  be  the  case,  but  grant  that 
the  day  may  soon  come  when  we  shall  awake  to  a  sense  of  our  duty  and 
go  forth  urging  the  claims  of  the  Gospel  on  all  men. 

I  hope  that  the  sending  out  one  Evangelist  by  the  Missionary  Society  is 
the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  our  beloved  State,  and  that  others  may  follow 
until  the  glorious  news  of  the  Gospel  has  been  sent  to  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth. 

The  concluding  paragraphs  of  the  above  indicate  that  it  was 
written  by  Dr.  Frank  W.  Dixon,  since  they  express  his  out- 
spoken convictions  on  ministerial  support  and  the  Missionary 
Co-operation. 

On  October  10-13,  1878,  the  Disciples'  Annual  Convention  was 
held  at  Eobersonville.  The  Sisters'  Christian  Missionary  Soci- 
ety had  been  functioning  then  in  an  organized  State-wide  capac- 
ity for  two  years.  Mrs.  Sue  Helen  Draughan,  of  Bethany 
Church  in  Edgecombe  County  attended.  She  had  founded  her 
local  society,  which  was  second  to  Hookerton  in  time  of  organi- 
zation. Her  story  of  this  Robersonville  Convention  with  the 
caption,  "A  Few  Minutes,"  gives  us  a  vivid  insight  into  the 
passing  of  the  old  custom  of  contributions  for  Minutes  only. 
She  likewise  spoke  her  mind  clearly  on  some  social  customs  of 
the  day.     She  signed  it,  "Helen."     It  follows:3 

I  went  to  the  ' '  Convention. ' '  There  went  also  three  delegates  from  the 
"Church  on  the  Hill"  to  carry  a  letter  with  $2.50  to  pay  for  having  it 
printed  in  the  ' '  Minutes. ' ' 

As  we  drew  near  Robinsonville  I  was  filled  with  delightful  astonishment 
to  see  the  place  so  new,  so  clean,  so  white.  Where  to  stop  we  knew  not ; 
we  came  first  in  sight  of  the  rustic  preparations,  where  was  ample  room 
for  country  people  such  as  we,  and  horses — but  we  did  not  stop,  for  fear 
of  missing  something  better  farther  on,  preferring  to  proceed  as  far  as  the 
crowd,  where  we  found  the  elegant,  exquisite,  comfortable  Robinson  church 
house  built,  some  say,  by  good  old  brother  Robinson,  others  say,  the  rich 
man,  others  yet  say,  the  man  of  this  place,  its  father,  leader  and  guardian 
of  the  people's  interest,  and  I  guess  his  wife  helped  him;  for  had  I  been 
sent  into  a  far  country  to  get  him  a  wife  I  could  not  have  done  better.     We 


148  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

went  in,  dropped  into  a  seat  to  hide  our  dusty  garments,  and  set  to  work 
examining  the  preachers'  heads  to  see  what  they  were  good  for,  but  could 
not  decide  whether  they  were  for  the  ' '  Minutes ' '  or  not.  We  soon  found 
one  had  a  big  heart  as  well  as  head;  he  moved  to  adjourn  when  actually  two 
little  fellows  cried  him  down  as  lustily  as  if  the  women  knew  exactly  where 
they  were  to  wash  and  eat  and  sleep.  Nevertheless  our  noble  brother  L. 
had  his  friends  near  his  heart,  so  he  introduced  us  to  a  lovely  woman,  good 
sister  Hodges  who  was  pleased  to  entertain  us,  and  we  thanked  her — for 
we  would  have  never  ventured  so  far  from  home  but  for  knowing  our 
brethren  were  there  to  make  us  welcome — as  brother  B.  had  prepared  for 
us  a  lodging  near  the  church  with  sister  Grimes — we  were  happy  to  get 
into  her  tidy  room  and  make  ourselves  better  looking.  Everything  in  that 
house,  dear  friends,  was  in  perfect  neatness — look  at  the  handsome  sister 
Grimes,  you  will  see  industry,  cordiality,  thrift,  and  independence  stamped 
on  her  countenance;  then  at  brother  G. — good-looking,  bright,  happy  and 
busy — seeming  to  say,  I  am  devoted  to  your  interests,  my  friends,  for  the 
time  being.  In  all  that  house  full  of  comforts  and  that  bountifully  spread 
table  only  one  thing  made  unhappy,  it  was  the  sight  of  ' '  brandy  peaches 
for  Christians  to  eat ' ' — Put  not  the  bottle  to  thy  neighbors '  lips ;  some  are 
weak,  it  may  be  your  brandy  in  peaches  might  cause  such  to  offend.  From 
the  inmost  recesses  of  my  soul  comes  a  wail,  Oh!  that  my  brethren  might 
never  again  touch  or  taste  this  great  enemy  of  all  good,  this  breeder  of 
evil — intoxicating  drink.  There  were  many  dear  brethren  and  sisters  at 
this  pleasant  home  where  good  cheer  and  happy  faces  abounded,  but  all 
that  was  seen  and  smelt  was  not  "pleasant"  as  a  "sweet"  little  brother 
very  well  knows.  There  was  a  call  for  money,  that  monster  who  seeks  to 
destroy  all  of  our  peace  of  mind;  it  was  requested  to  go  for  the  relief  of 
the  yellow  fever  sufferers  and  for  the  New-Berne  mission  but  it  failed  to 
leave  all  of  its  hiding  places  on  account  of  having  to  buy  one-cent  cigar- 
etts,  or  tobacco  for  the  brethren  and  snuff  for  the  sisters;  it  is  a  wonder 
that  the  noxious,  poisonous,  abominable  vapors  they  inhale  do  not  create 
and  nourish  a  brown  fever  plant.  ' '  Let  not  your  angiy  passions  rise, ' ' 
only  say  ' '  that  dear  sister  would  have  us  perfect, ' '  and  I  mean  to  be  so. 
' '  Let  no  corrupt  communication  proceed  out  of  your  mouths, ' '  of  words,  or 
smoke,  or  juice. 

I  think  we  were  through  rainy  Friday  to  bright  shining  Saturday,  when 
the  Convention  current  began  to  run  into  the  sister's  channel;  Sister  D — 
called  the  sisters  apart  and  spoke  to  them  on  the  subject  of  missions  with 
thoughts  that  glowed  and  words  that  burned,  kindling  such  an  enthusiasm 
that  up  rose  good  sister  Neely  and  in  most  pathetic  terms  entreated  them 
to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  great  work  of  having  the  Gospel  preached. 
Instead  of  prolonging  her  discourse  in  the  same  tender  and  beseeching  man- 
ner she  stopped  before  the  dear  sisters  were  sufficiently  moved  to  act,  and 
the  President  called  up  a  matter  of  fact  woman  from  Draughan  's  School 
House  who  seemed  to  think  it  time  to  bring  the  meeting  to  a  crisis,  at  any 
rate  that  it  might  be  printed  in  the  ' '  Minutes " ;  so  she  proposed  that  the 
President  should  hear  from  the  several  societies  represented,  for  the  pleas- 
ure and  instruction  of  those  not  engaged;   and  that  any  present  intending 


CONVENTIONS   IN   THE   SEVENTIES  149 

in  the  future  to  work  with  sister  D.  should  make  it  known.  Forthwith  up 
rose  the  majority  and  moved  in  steady  phalanx  towards  the  door.  Thus 
was  ' '  dismissed  ' '  the  sisters '  called  meeting  at  Robinsonville. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  a  goodly  company  resorted  to  the  upper  bal- 
cony of  sister  Outerbridge  's  residence  to  get  a  picture  taken —  'tis  done, 
see  who  you  know — there  is  stout  and  healthy  preacher  G.  whose  white  vest 
lies  lazily  near  the  front  balustrade,  not  far  off  stands  long,  lean  brother 
D.  holding  his  fat  baby  on  the  post;  these  are  the  extremes,  supply  the 
means.  Saturday  night  there  was  a  joyous  reunion  of  kindred  spirits. 
Brother  Walsh  exhorted  them  to  love  one  another  and  after  his  discourse 
was  ended,  the  pale  moon  smiled  upon  some  young  spirits  who  wandered 
about  in  pairs,  taking  no  doubt  a  carnal  view  of  our  good  brother's  teach- 
ings. The  morn  of  our  Lord  's  Day  dawned  gloriously  beautiful,  and  when 
much  people  were  gathered  together  brothers  Walsh  and  Winneld  rose  up 
and  spoke  to  them  the  words  of  the  Spirit.  After  Supper  we  sang  a  hymn 
and  went  out  each  to  his  own  home,  sorrowing  no  doubt  most  of  all  that 
never  in  the  flesh  should  we  all  meet  again.  Our  company  stopped  on  our 
way  at  the  house  of  brother  Brown,  where  his  good  wife  had  prepared  for 
our  comfort  such  a  meal  as  one  might  call  a  ' '  friend 's  welcome. ' '  May 
the  Lord  open  her  heart  also  that  she  may  become  His  friend  by  receiving 
the  words  of  Jesus.  The  dear  children,  I  shall  never  forget  how  perfectly 
they  behaved,  how  kind  and  gentle  towards  each,  so  bright  and  intelligent 
in  their  conversation  with  strangers.  We  met  there  brother  Etheridge  and 
his  wife.  I  wish  I  could  say  sister,  for  her  mind  indeed  seems  Godward. 
We  also  met  the  honorable  brother  Cooper  and  his  sister,  wife,  who  would 
have  pressed  us  to  tarry  at  their  house  had  not  our  faces  been  set  as  if  we 
would  go  farther.  "All  of  these  things  I  saw  and  heard  and  something 
more. ' '  I  heard  most  excellent  sermons  but  intend  to  keep  them  for  my 
own  use. 

Will  the  Doctor  please  print  these  few  minutes  for  nothing? 

Notes 

Walsh's  Biblical  Quarterly  and  Radical  Reformer,  Oct.,  1871,  pages  91, 
92.  nVatch  Tower,  Nov.,  1877,  pages  440-442,  Art.  "Our  Late  Convention." 
"Ibid.,   November,   1878,   pages  253-25,6. 


Chapter  XVI 

WOMAN'S   MISSIONARY   SERVICE 

The  organized  national  missionary  movement  among  women 
of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  was  initiated  by  Mrs.  Caroline  Neville 
Pearre,  in  July,  1874.1  They  were  formally  organized  as  the 
Christian  Woman's  Board  of  Missions,  at  the  Cincinnati  Con- 
vention, October  12,  1874.  Headquarters  were  established  at 
Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

Three  years  before  this  there  was  the  beginning  of  a  like  move- 
ment among  the  women  of  the  North  Carolina  Disciples  of 
Christ.  This  beginning  was  made  at  the  home  of  Dr.  F.  W. 
Dixon,  four  and  one-half  miles  from  Hookerton,  and  five  miles 
from  Snow  Hill.2  Mrs.  Sally  R.  Dixon,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Dixon, 
talked  much  with  Mrs.  Turner  May,  a  kindred  spirit,  of  the 
need  of  a  co-operative  work  among  the  women  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor  of  the  community  and  other  good  work.  This  was  on 
an  afternoon  in  the  Fall  of  1871.  To  start  a  revolving  fund 
each  agreed  to  sell  a  dress.  They  did  this,  and  realized  fifty 
cents  each.  Within  a  week,  Mrs.  C.  A.  D.  Grainger  (then  Miss 
Clara  A.  Dixon)  visited  Mrs.  Dixon,  and  added  fifty  cents  to 
the  initial  amount.  In  the  same  hour  it  was  decided  to  purchase 
with  this  fund  the  material  from  which  each  of  them  would  make 
a  shirt.  The  three  shirts  were  made,  and  a  child's  apron  from 
the  remnants  of  material.  The  sales  were  quick  and  netted  four 
dollars  and  a  half  for  their  treasury.  Mrs.  Grainger  said:  "We 
felt  the  ready  sales  evidenced  the  Master's  approval  and  bless- 
ing of  our  efforts."  Dr.  F.  W.  Dixon,  and  the  pastor,  Josephus 
Latham,  each  contributed  fifty  cents  and  were  given  honorary 
membership.  The  original  group  of  three  women  was  soon  in- 
creased by  the  following:  Mrs.  F.  M.  Faircloth,  Mrs.  Neppie 
L.  Dixon,  Mrs.  Pattie  Hooker,  Mrs.  Jane  Williams,  and  Mrs. 
Alice  Rountree.  They  now  organized  and  met  monthly  at  first 
at  the  President's  home,  later  at  the  various  homes  of  the  mem- 
bers. Mrs.  Sallie  R.  Dixon  was  President,  and  Miss  Clara  A. 
Dixon  (Mrs.  Grainger),  was  Secretary.  The  organization  was 
named  "The  Sisters'  Beneficent  Society."    As  to  their  mode  of 

150 


woman's  missionary  service  151 

operations,  Mrs.  Grainger  said:  "Each  took  home  as  many  gar- 
ments as  she  could  make,  sold  all  she  could  and  solicited  orders 
between  meetings." 

In  June,  1873,  a  young  preacher,  L.  D.  Summerlin,  assisted  J. 
L.  Burns  in  a  meeting  at  Snow  Hill.3  In  his  report  to  the  Watch 
Tower,  he  said : 

We  took  occasion  to  visit  Bro.  F.  W.  Dixon  and  his  family  during  our 
stay  where  we  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  our  good  Bro.  A.  C.  Hart  and 
spent  the  day  pleasantly  and  to  us  profitably.  Sister  Dixon  is  a  live  work- 
ing Disciple ;  has  a  society  organized  called  ' '  The  Sisters '  Beneficent  Soci- 
ety, ' '  and  which  we  were  pleased  to  learn  is  succeeding  even  beyond  their 
first  expectations.  It  is  a  noble  work  of  the  sisters  in  that  neighborhood 
to  aid  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  their  example  should  be  followed  by  those 
of  other  sections. 

During  one  of  the  regular  meetings  of  the  women  at  the  home 
of  Mrs.  Dixon,  two  preachers,  J.  L.  Burns  and  H.  C.  Bowen, 
stopped  for  dinner.4  They  were  on  their  way  to  Bethany 
Church  in  Edgecombe  County  to  hold  a  revival.  Burns  was 
inquisitive.  He  wanted  to  know  the  reason  for  the  concerted 
industry  of  the  fifteen  women  with  needles,  sewing  machines, 
and  cutting  tables.  It  was  explained  to  the  two  ministers.  They 
heard  "with  deep  sympathy  and  interest."  At  Bethany  they 
presented  the  new  work  to  Mrs.  Sue  Helen  Draughan.  She 
organized  a  "Sewing  Circle"  there  at  once.  This  was  the  second 
participating  group. 

These  circles  continued  their  charitable  work  through  a  few 
years  until  their  treasury  outgrew  the  community  needs.  They 
had  extended  their  output  to  include  check  shirts,  kitchen 
aprons,  and  other  articles  of  dress  salable  in  farmers'  homes. 
Nearly  every  woman  in  the  Hookerton  Church  had  united  with 
the  Society.  To  the  women  had  come  much  joy  in  this  fellow- 
ship. They  felt  that  it  should  be  extended  to  the  Disciple 
women  of  the  State.  J.  L.  Burns  and  Mrs.  Sue  Helen  Draughan 
urged  through  articles  in  the  press  that  the  service  should  be 
presented  for  general  adoption  at  the  Wheat  Swamp  Conven- 
tion, October  5-8,  1876.  This  was  the  Annual  State  Meeting  of 
the  Disciples.  A  practical  problem  confronted  the  women.  Who 
should  present  their  work?  Current  teaching  in  the  churches 
had  given  a  crass  construction  to  Paul's  admonition  concerning 
woman's   silence   in    the   church.      However,    thev   asked   Mrs. 


152  NORTH    CAEOLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Dixon,  mother  of  the  Woman's  work,  to  give  the  message  and 
lead  the  way.  She  was  encouraged  to  do  this  by  her  pastor  and 
her  husband.  In  her  conscience,  too,  she  conceived  of  the  occa- 
sion as  a  test  of  her  fidelity.  So  "under  the  revered  old  trees 
behind  the  meeting  house,"  at  Wheat  Swamp,  October  5,  1876, 
after  "the  first  public  talk  by  one  of  our  North  Carolina  sis- 
ters," it  was  arranged,  "there  to  convert  'The  Beneficent  Soci- 
ety' into  'The  Sisters'  Mission  Workers  of  Disciples  of  Christ.'  " 

The  first  officers  were  :3  Mrs.  Sallie  R.  Dixon,  President ;  Miss 
Clara  A.  Dixon  (Mrs.  Grainger),  Vice-President;  Mrs.  Sue 
Helen  Draughan,  Corresponding  Secretary;  Mrs.  Winnie  R. 
Tull,  Recording  Secretary,  and  Mrs.  Noah  Rouse,  Treasurer.  It 
was  decided  to  hold  the  circle  meetings  in  the  respective  churches 
instead  of  the  homes.  No  co-operative  system  had  been  evolved, 
so  each  group  was  to  effect  its  plan  of  work  and  application  of 
funds. 

The  Watch  Tower  then  edited  by  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh  was  a  pro- 
motional help  for  the  women.  In  May,  1876,  he  had  added  to 
the  name  Watch  Tower  the  sub-title  of  Christian  Woman's 
Worker.  This  he  changed  to  Sisters'  Mission  Banner,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1878.  He  ran  regularly  a  woman's  department  in  the 
journal.  The  first  "Editress"  of  it  was  Mrs.  Sue  Helen 
Draughan.  Later,  Mrs.  Winnie  R.  Tull  was  added  as  a  "Co- 
editor."  The  writing  of  the  women  in  this  Department  was  an 
effective  agitation  for  their  cause.  Immediately  after  the  or- 
ganization at  Wheat  Swamp,  the  President,  Mrs.  Dixon,  made  a 
stirring  "Appeal,"  through  this  medium  in  which  she  said:6 

Heretofore  our  interest  in  the  missionary  work  of  the  brethren  has  been 
truly  and  sincerely  given,  but  we  have  never  had  our  energies  as  women 
drawn  out  at  all ;  and  from  my  knowledge  of  woman 's  nature  I  am  con- 
fident that  she  knows  not  her  own  strength  until  tested  by  individual  re- 
sponsibility. This  is  woman 's  experience.  And  I  know  full  well  that 
nothing  on  earth  yields  us  half  so  much  pleasure  as  when  self  is  buried  in 
our  efforts  to  promote  the  happiness  and  pleasure  of  those  we  love.  *  *  * 
During  the  coming  year,  let  each  sister  in  our  various  congregations  feel 
that  this  appeal  is  an  earnest  entreaty  made  to  them  to  give  something  or 
at  least  to  exercise  their  ability  to  make  and  appropriate  to  the  work  of 
Christ  at  least  a  small  sum  for  every  week,  for  the  coming  year.  This  sum 
can  be  paid  into  the  hands  of  a  certain  one  chosen  from  their  own  con- 
gregation and  by  that  sister  transmitted  to  the  General  Treasurer,  or  Cor- 
responding Secretary. 


woman's  missionary  service  153 

Mrs.  Draughan  as  Corresponding  Secretary  accompanied  the 
President's  "Appeal"  with  an  exhortation,  in  part  as  follows:7 

Let  us  agree  that  there  shall  not  be  one  careless  one  among  us,  but 
rather  that  every  one  should  labor  for  the  Lord.  You  know  that  we  have 
a  will  of  our  own  en  masse,  and  individually;  are  also  capable  of  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  endurance,  together  with  a  disposition  to  overcome 
obstacles,  whereupon  let  us  decide  to  send  a  preacher  to  some  part  of  North 
Carolina  where  we  have  no  church — and  send  also  into  "the  highways  and 
hedges  and  compel  them  to  come  in. ' '  Let  us  pay  him  well,  so  he  will  keep 
up  a  good  heart,  feeling  assured  that  we  will  hold  up  his  hands;  we  will 
pray  for  his  success  too,  holding  an  abiding  faith  in  our  Father,  for  He 
will  not  let  His  word  fall  to  the  ground  empty,  and  we  will  succeed.  *  *  * 
Every  sister,  I  believe,  has  some  money  transaction ;  well,  let  us  promise 
the  Lord  a  certain  portion  of  the  money  we  expect  to  receive — then  it  will 
be  safe,  for  well  we  know  that  when  money  comes  into  the  house  there  are 
many  uses  for  it ;  and  if  the  Lord 's  share  is  not  secured  by  a  Christian 's 
faithful  promise,  it  will  nine  times  out  of  ten  be  only  what  is  left.  Now, 
my  dear  sisters,  will  some  one  of  you  in  every  congregation  who  feels  union 
in  her  heart,  get  the  names  of  every  sister  who  is  willing  to  ' '  labor  in  the 
Gospel, ' '  and  send  the  names  to  me,  and  I  '11  place  them  on  the  Mission 
labor  roll;  then  each  may  know  her  sister  in  this  work  by  name,  for  they 
will  be  published  as  our  list  of  ' '  Laborers  for  the  Lord. ' ' 

The  third  Society  organized  was  at  Kinston,  October  25,  1876. 8 
It  had  twenty  members  and  met  every  Wednesday.  It  was 
called  "The  Sisters'  Working  Society."  The  officers  were:  Mrs. 
Winnie  R.  Trill,  Secretary;  Mrs.  John  T.  Walsh,  Assistant  Sec- 
retary, and  Mrs.  S.  C.  Nicoll,  Treasurer.  Representative  women 
at  the  Wheat  Swamp  Convention  had  been  requested  to  pro- 
mote the  cause  in  their  home  churches  upon  their  return. 

The  first  field  worker  was  a  man.  The  women  were  not  yet 
bold  enough  to  speak  in  the  churches.  Jesse  T.  Davis  was  em- 
ployed to  promote  organization  of  societies.9  He  began  May  17, 
1877.  He  worked  two  months,  organized  seven  new  societies, 
preached  forty-two  sermons,  and  had  five  accessions  to  the 
churches.  The  seven  societies  he  organized  were :  Rountrees, 
Bethel,  Salem,  Mt.  Pleasant,  Trinity,  Eden,  and  Riverside.10  As 
Hookerton,  Bethany  and  Kinston  had  been  previously  organ- 
ized and  two  other  societies  failed  to  report,  there  were  twelve 
societies  thus  on  the  working  roll  at  the  first  anniversary  of  the 
general  organization.  Their  funds,  amounting  to  $163.95,  were 
used  to  sustain  Jesse  T.  Davis  in  promotion,  in  evangelizing 
"destitute  places,"  and  in  sending  Isaac  L.  Chestnutt  to  hold 


154  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

a  meeting  on  Roanoke  Island,  where  he  organized  a  Church. 
Likewise  Washington  Neely  followed  him  to  continue  preaching 
on  the  Island.  It  was  also  planned  to  have  Virgil  A.  Wilson 
evangelize  in  New  Bern.  This  was  not  found  opportune.  In 
April,  1878,  a  hundred  dollars  was  appropriated  to  have  him 
preach  in  the  new  fields  of  Greenville,  Hamilton,  and  Tarboro, 
"to  the  extent  the  money  would  justify  him."  Also  at  that  time 
Davis,  who  was  still  working,  reported  a  new  society  organized 
at  Timothy.  Wilson  did  not  go  to  Greenville  or  Tarboro,  but 
evangelized  at  Hamilton  and  Plymouth,  and  itinerated  over  a 
large  area.11  He  reported  traveling  727  miles,  and  assured  the 
sisters  that  the  "Lord's  money,"  had  not  been  "wasted." 

After  the  death  of  her  husband  in  1882,  the  President,  Mrs. 
Dixon,  could  not  attend  Conventions  regularly.  There  was  yet 
no  outstanding  native  leader  to  promote  the  cause  of  the  women 
in  the  Conventions.  In  the  Salem  Convention,  1886,  to 
strengthen  their  treasury,  personal  pledges  were  taken,  payable 
annually.  These  were  for  various  amounts.  One  from  Mrs. 
Mary  Bynum  was  for  ten  dollars ;  others  were  five  dollars  or 
less.  This  accumulated  a  fund  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
dollars  by  the  time  of  the  Hookerton  Convention  in  1890.  It 
was  used  to  sustain  R.  W.  Stancill  in  planting  the  new  Church 
in  Winston-Salem.  He  was  followed  there  in  1892  by  H.  C. 
Bowen,  who  was  aided  by  an  appropriation  of  three  hundred 
dollars  per  year  from  the  National  Christian  Woman 's  Board  of 
Missions. 

At  this  period  Mrs.  0.  A.  Burgess  was  the  President  of  the 
National  organization  of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Service.  She 
communicated  with  Mrs.  Dixon.  The  North  Carolina  Women 
had  kept  in  touch  with  their  National  work  through  its  organ, 
The  Missionary  Tidings.  Their  work,  however,  was  not  effec- 
tually co-ordinated.  By  special  request  of  Mrs.  Burgess,  R.  W. 
Stancill  was  sent  to  the  National  Convention  at  Allegheny,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  early  October,  1891.  He  returned  in  time  for  the 
State  Convention  at  New  Bern,  October  22-25.  Here  it  was 
unanimously  agreed  that  the  Woman's  Societies  of  the  State 
should  become  auxiliary  to  the  National  Christian  Woman's 
Board  of  Missions.  This  required  the  sending  of  all  funds  to 
the  General  Treasurer  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana.     The  National 


woman's  missionary  service  155 

Officers  were   to  direct   and  supervise  the   local   Societies,   co- 
operatively with  the  State  Officers. 

(Mrs.  Dixon  served  as  President  for  the  first  eighteen  years 
after  the  State  organization  was  effected  in  1876.  Mrs.  Martha 
Stanley  succeeded  her  in  18947] 

At  the  Grifton  Convention,  1892,  there  were  reported  twenty 
auxiliaries,  or  societies  in  the  State  with  an  aggregate  member- 
ship of  four  hundred.  They  had  raised  almost  $300.00  during 
the  year.  A  part  of  one  session  of  the  Convention  was  given  to 
them.  Plans  projected  in  that  meeting  were:  that  funds  be 
provided  to  keep  an  organizer  in  the  field ;  that  Christian  Wom- 
an's Board  of  Missions  Day  be  observed  in  the  churches;  that 
the  State  Missionary  Corresponding  Secretary  and  State  Board 
be  asked  for  their  hearty  co-operation ;  that  pastors  and  elders 
be  requested  to  see  that  there  was  a  working  auxiliary  in  each 
church;  that  children's  Mission  Bands  be  fostered;  that  Chris- 
tian Woman's  Board  of  Missions  journals  be  given  more  exten- 
sive circulation;  that  the  national  officers  be  given  greater  "free- 
dom of  action, ' '  in  directing  the  local  societies ;  and  that  better 
support  for  foreign  missions  be  pledged,  y 

In  the  1894  Convention  at  Kinston^by  motion  of  Moses  T. 
Move,  it  was  agreed  to  give  an  entire  day  to  the  Christian  Wom- 
an's Board  of  Missions  in  subsequent  Conventions.  By  1895 
there  were  fifty  North  Carolina  subscribers  for  the  Missionary 
Tidings.  In  1897  the  establishment  of  a  Bible  Chair  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina  was  proposed.  In  1903  the  first  regu- 
lar field  secretary,  Miss  Mary  Kilpatrick,  was  engaged.  She  was 
to  give  the  entire  year  to  the  service  with  headquarters  at  Wil- 
son. Other  workers  in  this  capacity  have  been  Mrs.  L.  M.  Omer, 
Miss  Mary  Irene  Orvis,  Miss  Nanna  Crozier  (Mrs.  John  H. 
Wood),  Miss  Fanny  May  Dixon,  Miss  Elizabeth  Tesh  (Mrs  T.  L. 
Willingham),  Miss  Etta  Nunn,  Miss  Myrtle  Azbell,  Mrs.  C.  N. 
Downey,  and  Mrs.  H.  H.  Settle. 

In  1905,  a  standard  roll  of  honor  was  adopted  for  the  auxiliar- 
ies.    The  requirements  were  as  follows: 

(1)  Payment  of  State  and  National  Dues. 

(2)  Observance  of  Christian  Woman's  Board  of  Missions  Day. 

(3)  Observance  of  week  of  prayer  and  self-denial  with  offer- 
ings for  special  work. 


156  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

(4)  Returning  quarterly  reports  promptly  to  the  State  Sec- 
retary with  all  questions  answered. 

(5)  Increase  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  in  Auxiliary  member- 
ship. Each  Auxiliary  attaining  the  Roll  of  Honor  received  a 
certificate  presented  at  the  State  Convention. 

In  1909  the  great  International  Centennial  Convention  of 
Disciples  of  Christ  was  held  at  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania.  Miss 
Etta  Nunn  was  the  Centennial  Secretary  for  the  Disciple  women 
of  North  Carolina.  The  two  Centennial  aims  for  the  State  were 
the  doubling  of  membership  in  the  Auxiliaries  for  the  period  of 
1905-1909  and  a  Centennial  gift  of  two  hundred  dollars.  This 
aim  was  later  voluntarily  increased  to  five  hundred  dollars.  The 
membership  was  increased  from  two  hundred  and  eighty  to  six 
hundred  and  three,  and  the  final  total  gift  was  $502. 15. 12  For 
this  a  Centennial  medal  was  received  by  the  State.  Also  honor- 
able mention  was  given  by  the  National  Centennial  Secretary. 
In  1924,  the  Woman's  Missionary  Service  of  Disciples  held  their 
National  Golden  Jubilee  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  During  this  fifteen 
years  there  was  much  growth  in  North  Carolina.  The  greater 
resourcefulness  is  indicated  in  the  Golden  Jubilee  gifts  from 
North  Carolina  women  which  aggregated  approximately  fifteen 
thousand  dollars.  This,  as  compared  with  the  Centennial  offer- 
ing of  five  hundred  dollars,  marked  a  substantial  growth  in  the 
fifteen-year  period. 

Notes 

^'Christian  Missions  and  Historical  Sketches,"  by  F.  M.  Green,  page 
233.  2North  Carolina  Christian,  Nov.,  1923,  page  7.  Also  see  page  23,  Min- 
utes, 1909.  3Watch  Tower.  Sept..  1873,  page  359.  4Same  as  Note  (2).  HVatch 
Tower,  Jan.,  1877,  page  216.  6Ibid..  pages  214,  215.  7Ibid.,  pages  213,  214. 
sIbid.,  Feb.,  1877,  page  230.  »Ibid.,  June  1877,  page  325.  "Ibid.,  Sept.,  1877. 
page  405.     "Ibid.,   Nov.,    1878,    page  247.     l;Minutes,    1909,    page   29. 


Chapter  XVII 

EARLY  EDUCATION  AMONG  DISCIPLES 

For  their  first  half -century  (1841-1891)  North  Carolina  Dis- 
ciples had  no  educational  institution  owned  and  operated  as  a 
Brotherhood  enterprise  in  their  midst.  This  lack  of  immediate 
facility  for  leadership  training  was  the  greatest  handicap  to 
their  growth.  For  the  want  of  a  liberal  education  the  preach- 
ers for  the  most  part  avoided  service  in  the  towns  and  cities  and 
made  the  Disciples  at  that  period  almost  exclusively  rural.  This 
had  its  disadvantages  in  retarding  the  communion  in  acquiring 
strategic  bases  in  the  growing  centers. 

However,  since  many  of  the  preachers  had  a  large  portion  of 
their  income  from  local  farms,  or  schoolrooms,  or  other  stable 
enterprises,  their  residence  was  settled.  As  a  whole  they  were 
thus  dependable.  And  nativity,  or  long  residence,  oftentimes 
both,  made  them  highly  adaptable  to  the  fields  which  they  served. 
At  the  period  given,  Eastern  North  Carolina  was  limited  in 
contacts  with  the  outer  world.  Extensive  swamps  made  much 
of  its  territory  all  but  inaccessible.  The  Wilmington  and  Wel- 
don  was  the  only  trunk  railway.  Great  modern  industry  was 
but  incipient.  Agriculture  was  the  supreme  economic  interest. 
No  large  cities  were  on  the  map.  Many  parents  sent  their  chil- 
dren to  colleges  in  the  western  parts  of  the  State.  Often  these 
institutions  would  have  disproportionately  large  representation 
in  their  student  body  from  the  eastern  area.  No  communion 
attempted  any  large  educational  effort  in  the  East.  In  it  no 
outstanding  college  was  built. 

Some  of  those  in  the  original  group  of  Disciple  ministers  had 
never  been  to  any  school  so  much  as  a  day.  Experience  had 
been  their  teacher.  Their  culture  came  from  ordinary  contact 
with  associates,  some  of  whom  had  been  more  fortunate  in  their 
training.  John  P.  Dunn  saw  clearly  the  need  of  an  educated 
ministry.  In  the  Annual  Convention  of  1856  which  met  at 
Chinquapin  Chapel,  in  Jones  County,  he  moved  that  it  be  "rec- 
ommended to  the  Churches  of  this  body,  the  propriety  and  im- 

157 


158  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

portance  of  educating  pious  young  men  for  the  Gospel  Minis- 
try."    The  resolution  was  adopted. 

In  1849  they  elected  John  P.  Dunn  and  Thomas  J.  Latham, 
their  two  most  prominent  ministers,  to  serve  on  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Baptist  "Female  Institute,"  at  Murfreesboro, 
North  Carolina.  This  was  upon  invitation  of  the  Chowan  Bap- 
tists. In  their  Convention  of  1854  at  Rose  of  Sharon  near  Kins- 
ton  the  Disciples  moved  to  acquire  a  school  of  their  own.  It 
was  recommended  that  "A  Female  Seminary  of  a  high  order 
be  established  by  the  Disciples."  As  a  Committee  to  select  a 
site,  Gideon  Allen,  J.  P  .Neville,  Philip  Pipkin,  J.  H.  Dillahunt, 
and  H.  D.  Cason  were  to  serve.  Without  leaving  the  Convention 
they  reported  favorably  for  Kinston  as  the  location.  The  Con- 
vention the  next  year  met  in  Kinston.  The  site  had  not  mate- 
rialized, so  John  T.  Walsh,  John  P.  Dunn  and  Josephus  Latham 
were  appointed  as  a  Steering  Committee.  Dr.  Walsh  as  Chair- 
man, reported :  ' '  That  from  the  most  reliable  information  which 
we  can  obtain,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  take  measures  for 
securing  an  increased  subscription,  in  order  to  carry  out  the 
plan  of  the  College  building  which  has  been  submitted  to  us. 
And  your  committee  would  respectfully  urge  the  propriety  of 
making  an  effort  at  this  meeting  for  this  object."  No  results 
appeared  from  further  concerted  action  at  this  time. 

Leading  up  to  this,  in  March,  1854,  Dr.  Walsh  through  his 
journal,  The  Christian  Friend,  had  appealed  to  the  Disciples  to 
erect  a  "Female  College"  at  Hookerton.  This  stirred  John  B. 
Respess  to  say:1  "The  Lord  grant  us  success  in  placing  our 
first  high  school  on  the  banks  of  the  Contentnea  *  *  *  My 
mind  natters  me  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  every  aged 
Disciple  in  North  Carolina  can  have  their  loved  ones  taught  and 
educated  by  an  humble  Disciple  of  Christ.  And  we  are  induced 
to  believe,  as  Campbell  expresses  it,  that  'a  man's  religious  opin- 
ions originate  with  his  religious  education.'  " 

Dr.  Walsh  was  then  living  at  Hookerton.  His  agitation  went 
so  far  that  a  Board  of  Trustees  was  organized  October  3,  1854, 
authorized  probably  by  the  Union  Meeting  of  the  Disciples.2 
The  officers  of  this  Board  were:  John  P.  Dunn,  President; 
Winsor  Dixon,  Vice-President ;  George  Joyner,  Secretary ;  and 
William  Dixon,  Assistant  Secretary.  Their  important  actions  at 
their  first  meeting  are  reported  as  follows: 


EARLY    EDUCATION    AMONG    DISCIPLES  159 

On  motion,  ordered,  that  William  P.  Grimsley,  Menan  P.  Powell,  Dr. 
Jacob  Hartsfield,  Gideon  Allen,  Abraham  D.  Moye,  Alfred  Moye,  Benjamin 
Parrott,  Eeuben  Barrow,  Josephus  Latham,  John  H.  Dillahunt,  Henry  D. 
Cason,  John  A.  Leggett,  John  B.  Respess,  and  Jesse  P.  Neville,  be  appointed 
local  agents  to  solicit  contributions  in  their  respective  churches  and  coun- 
ties in  aid  of  the  Female  Institute,  and  be  requested  to  report  their  success 
at  the  next  or  some  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Board. 

On  motion,  ordered,  that  fifty  copies  of  the  articles  and  subscription  be 
printed,  and  that  the  Secretary  be  directed  to  forward  a  copy  to  the  printer 
and  procure  it  to  be  done,  and  that  he  forward  a  printed  copy  to  each  of 
the  agents  above  named,  with  a  notification  of  their  appointment. 

This  was  the  first  serious  effort  of  the  Disciples  to  acquire 
their  own  school. 

The  Convention  had  given  its  endorsement  to  Kinston  as  the 
site.  But  the  necessary  funds  were  slow  to  be  realized  and  the 
effort  was  continued  through  several  years.  In  1857,  there  was 
local  agitation  to  plant  a  school  of  the  Disciples  in  Farmville  or 
vicinity.  Alfred  Moye  wrote  his  son,  Moses,  on  April  14,  that 
he  had  carried  a  subscription  list  but  it  had  been  given  the 
"cold  shoulder."3  He  said:  "One  wanted  it  located  at  one 
place  and  another  at  a  different  one."  Each  wanted  the  site  to 
be  "immediately  in  their  vicinity."  He  anticipated  that  Dr.  W. 
H.  Hughart  would  teach  the  school.  In  despair  he  said  there 
was  such  "little  concert  of  action"  among  Disciples,  "that  it 
seems  nothing  can  succeed."  When  the  Hugharts  came  they 
located  in  Wilson  where  Mrs.  Hughart  conducted  a  private 
"Female  School."  She  taught  "Primary,"  and  "High  Eng- 
lish Branches,"  French,  Latin  and  Music.  The  current  an- 
nouncement of  it  concluded  :4 

Many  testimonials  of  qualification  could  be  appended  to  this  by  Mrs. 
Hughart,  both  from  her  Instructors,  and  those  by  whom  she  has  been 
patronized  since,  but  she  deems  thirteen  years '  experience  as  an  Instructress 
of  youth,  sufficient. 

Dr.  Hughart  will  deliver  Lectures  before  the  School,  on  Chemistry  and 
animal  and  vegetable  Physiology.  Many  experiments  will  be  performed 
in  Chemistry,  which  will  be  both  instructive  and  interesting  to  the  stu- 
dents. 

The  Farmville  venture  of  which  Alfred  Moye  wrote  was  sup- 
ported with  subscriptions  to  the  extent  of  about  $3,000.00,  but 
the  school  was  not  established  by  the  Disciples.  In  writing  of 
this  in  March,  1858,  Dr.  Walsh,  who  was  then  in  Kinston,  com- 
mended the  effort  but  urged  that  it  could  succeed  only  after  the 


160  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

most  aggressive  effort.5  He  added:  "We  had  about  $9,000.00 
subscribed  for  a  school  here,  and  its  failure  is  a  monument  to 
our  folly  as  lasting  as  the  hills,  or  the  pyramids  of  Egypt." 
However,  his  Kinston  school  was  later  revived.6  In  1860,  Dr. 
Walsh  was  made  the  Principal.  It  was  called  the  Kinston  Fe- 
male Seminary.  His  assistant  was  Miss  Alice  Mallard.  There 
were  taught:  Elementary  Subjects,  Embroidery,  Music,  French, 
Latin,  Greek,  Higher  English,  Mathematics,  Geography,  His- 
tory and  Philosophy.  Each  session  was  for  five  months,  the  first 
from  January  to  May,  and  the  second  from  July  to  December. 

These  two  schools,  the  one  conducted  by  Mrs.  Hughart  at 
Wilson,  and  the  other  by  Dr.  Walsh  at  Kinston,  were  the  first 
of  general  importance  to  be  conducted  by  individual  Disciples 
in  the  State. 

The  War  Between  the  States  was  a  blow  to  education.  As  it 
left  many  orphans,  it  was  suggested  that  an  "Orphan  School" 
be  established  by  the  Disciples  of  the  State.  This  was  broached 
at  Kinston  in  the  Convention  of  1872.  Next  year  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  submit  a  proposal  concerning  a  "High  School 
with  an  Orphan  Department."  They  were  to  report  at  the  1874 
Convention.  Serving  on  the  Committee  were :  Dr.  R.  W.  King, 
R.  J.  Taylor,  J.  J.  Harper,  George  Joyner,  Josephus  Latham, 
Joseph  H.  Foy,  and  Dr.  F.  W.  Dixon.  The  gist  of  their  report 
was  that  a  capital  stock  company  be  formed,  to  raise  not  less 
than  $10,000.00  in  stock,  in  shares  of  $25.00  each,  which  were 
to  be  taken  by  individuals  and  churches.  Any  individual  or 
church  contributing  as  much  as  $200.00  should  have  the  special 
privilege  of  tuition  free  for  one  pupil  sent.  Tuition  should  also 
be  free  to  any  deserving  indigent  orphan  sponsored  by  an  indi- 
vidual or  church.  There  was  to  be  an  executive  board  of  five 
persons  called  the  Board  of  Education  who  were  to  control  and 
operate  the  institution  after  the  stock  had  become  effective.  The 
concluding  paragraph  of  the  report  follows: 

Your  Committee  fully  realizes  the  importance  and  pressing  need  of  an 
institution  of  learning  peculiarly  our  own.  But  owing  to  the  fact  that  there 
are  some  other  things  we  deem  to  be  at  present  of  paramount  importance 
before  the  Convention,  that  are  yet  not  accomplished,  and  believing  that  it 
is  necessary  to  gradually  educate  our  people  to  the  importance  of  such  an 
institution,  we  hope  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  we  will  all  be  aroused 
from  our  lethargy,  and  not  only  see,  but  act  our  duty.  By  placing  the 
whole  matter  in  the  hands  of  a  Board  of  Education  for  the  present,  we 


Group,  First  Officers,  N.  3.  0.  M.  S. 


1.  Dr.  Frank  W.  Dixon.  Pre: 
retary.  3.  Noali  Rouse,  Treasun 
Howard,   Recording   Secretary. 


L'.    Dr.    .John    T. 

Walsl 

i,    Correspom 

line    Sec 

ohn    .1.    Harper 

Vice 

President. 

5.    C.    V 

Group,  First  Officers.  W.  M.  S. 


1.  Mrs.  Frank  W.  Dixon,  President.  2.  Mrs.  Sue  Helen  Draughan,  Correspond- 
ing- Secretary.  3,  Mrs.  Noah  Rouse,  Treasurer.  4.  Miss  Clara  A.  Dixon,  (Mrs. 
Grainger),    Vice    President,      5.    Mrs.    "Winnie    R.    Tull,    Recording    Secretary. 


EARLY    EDUCATION    AMONG   DISCIPLES  161 

believe  that  by  energy  and  perseverance,  the  end  will  be  accomplished  in  no 
very  far  distant  future.  Your  Committee  are  sensible  of  the  fact  that  the 
plan  is  far  from  perfect,  therefore,  we  only  present  it  as  a  basis  for  future 
operation. 

The  Board  of  Education  was  appointed  by  the  Moderator,  Dr. 
Walsh.  It  was  as  follows:  J.  H.  Foy,  J.  L.  Winfield,  Dr.  H.  D. 
Harper,  S.  H.  Rountree,  and  Dr.  F.  W.  Dixon.  It  was  left  to 
this  Board  to  put  in  operation  this  elaborate  plan.  However 
nothing  beyond  discussion  was  realized  during  the  ensuing  year. 
They  submitted  a  report  at  the  Corinth  Convention,  1875,  which 
was  "by  request  withdrawn."  The  following  was  substituted 
for  it,  and  adopted  on  motion  of  Jesse  T.  Davis:  "We  are  satis- 
fied from  the  spirit  manifested  by  the  brotherhood  that  no  school 
can  be  inaugurated  under  the  special  control  of  the  brethren  for 
the  present.  Bro.  J.  H.  Foy  of  Wilson  and  Joseph  Kinsey  of 
LaGrange  are  warm  disciples,  and  we  believe  will  do  all  in  their 
power  to  instruct  those  confided  to  their  charge,  and  we  cor- 
dially recommend  and  encourage  these  brethren  in  their  educa- 
tional efforts." 

Joseph  H.  Foy  and  Joseph  Kinsey  figure  largely  in  the  educa- 
tional service  of  the  Disciples  of  Eastern  North  Carolina.  It  is 
fitting  that  we  give  an  account  of  their  work. 

Joseph  H.  Foy  was  a  native  of  Scotts  Hill,  New  Hanover 
County.  He  received  "excellent  Academic  and  Collegiate  ad- 
vantages."7 He  began  teaching  in  1856,  at  the  age  of  18.  He 
came  to  Wilson  in  1859.  The  next  year  he  married  Miss  Kate 
Battle,  daughter  of  Amos  J.  Battle.  After  studying  law  at 
Chapel  Hill  he  taught  in  the  Wilson  Collegiate  Institute  in  1864, 
under  Professor  D.  S.  Richardson.  He  conducted  a  school  at 
Stantonsburg  most  of  the  time  from  1865  to  1870.  In  1868  he 
was  associated  for  a  term  with  Joseph  Kinsey  in  the  Pleasant 
Hill  Academy  in  Jones  County.  The  same  year  he  was  ordained 
to  the  Disciple  ministry.  In  1871  he  founded  the  Kinston  Col- 
legiate Institute  where  he  taught  and  administered  until  1875 
when  he  became  a  professor  in  Wilson  College.  He  returned  to 
Kinston,  1876,  and  revived  the  Institute.  The  next  year  he  re- 
turned to  Wilson  associating  with  Prof.  Brewer  in  operating 
the  "widely  known  and  flourishing  Female  College."  Senator 
Henry  G-.  Williams  said  of  him  in  the  Wilson  Advance:  "He  is 
a  ripe  scholar  and  as  a  disciplinarian  has  few  if  any  equals  in 


162  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

North  Carolina.  Hundreds  of  his  former  pupils  in  all  the  hon- 
orable walks  of  life  testify  with  affection  to  the  thoroughness  of 
the  zealous  and  systematic  training  received  at  his  hands." 

It  was  while  Foy  taught  in  Wilson  and  Kinston  in  1875  and 
1876  that  Charles  Brantley  Aycock  was  a  student  under  him. 
The  biographer  of  Governor  Aycock  said  of  this:8  "Young 
Aycock  had  the  good  fortune  to  come  under  the  influence  of  a 
masterful  teacher,  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Foy,  who  quickly  recognized 
his  pupil's  superior  abilities,  and  took  great  pride  in  directing 
their  development.  He  encouraged  the  boy  in  his  ambition, 
fired  his  zeal  for  learning,  and  awoke  in  him  a  spirit  of  self- 
confidence.  Governor  Aycock  never  forgot  nor  failed  to  acknowl- 
edge the  interest  which  this  instructor  took  in  him." 

The  University  of  North  Carolina  conferred  on  Foy  the  de- 
gree of  D.D.  at  her  commencement  in  1881.  At  the  same  time, 
one  other  D.D.  degree  was  conferred.  This  was  upon  Calvin 
H.  Wiley,  founder  of  the  Public  School  System  of  the  State. 

A  student  under  Foy  was  Hon.  Josephus  Daniels,  of  Raleigh, 
North  Carolina,  now  editor  of  the  News  and  Observer.  He  was 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  Woodrow  Wilson's  Cabinet.  He  wrote 
the  following  appreciation  of  Foy  :9 

It  is  doubtful  if  a  more  brilliant  teacher  lived  in  North  Carolina  in  the 
Seventies  and  Eighties  than  Joseph  H.  Foy,  who  was  connected  with  the 
Wilson  Collegiate  Institute.  He  was  an  excellent  teacher,  a  brilliant  scholar 
and  a  preacher  of  the  Disciples  Church  of  distinction.  After  leaving  North 
Carolina  he  was  pastor  of  a  Christian  (Disciples)  Church  in  St.  Louis,  and 
a  leader  in  educational  work  in  Missouri.  Later  he  was,  when  age  ap- 
proached, placed  on  the  Carnegie  Foundation.  This  was  done  as  a  matter 
of  special  consideration  of  Dr.  Foy's  service  and  distinction  and  Mr. 
Carnegie  himself  was  interested  to  waive  the  rules  and  regulations  to  permit 
it.  Dr.  Foy  had  devoted  some  time  to  preaching  and  some  to  teaching,  and, 
therefore,  did  not  come  within  the  strict  Carnegie  provisions  for  pensions. 
It  was  a  happiness  to  me  to  bring  Dr.  Foy's  usefulness  to  Mr.  Carnegie's 
personal  attention. 

The  greatness  of  Dr.  Foy  was  never  seen  quite  so  well  except  as  in  his 
ability  to  bring  out  dormant  talent.  He  had  a  way  of  awakening  this  talent 
— making  it  felt  by  students  and  carrying  them  forward  to  larger  achieve- 
ments in  professional,  business  and  community  service,  and  he  possessed 
this  ability  in  a  greater  degree  than  any  teacher  I  have  known.  I  can  re- 
call now  a  number  of  those  conspicuous  in  the  public  life  of  the  State  and 
in  the  professional  and  business  field  who  owe  much  to  the  teaching  and 
inspiration  they  received  from  Dr.  Foy  while  he  was  teaching  in  "Wilson  and 
Kinston.     Among  them  I  will  mention  Hon.  Chas.  B.  Aycock,  the  most  dis- 


EARLY    EDUCATION    AMONG   DISCIPLES  163 

tinguished  Governor  of  this  State  since  1876;  Judge  Frank  A.  Daniels  of 
the  Superior  Court;  Rodolph  Duffy,  prosecuting  attorney  of  North  Caro- 
lina; James  W.  Hines,  leading  business  man  and  manufacturer  of  Rocky 
Mount;  and  Jas.  Y.  Joyner,  leading  educator  and  for  a  long  time  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  These  are  a  few,  the  most  con- 
spicuous in  public  life,  of  the  many  who  felt  the  impulse  to  knowledge 
awakened  by  Dr.  Foy. 

I  call  him  a  great  teacher  in  the  real  sense  of  the  word.  He  not  only 
imparted  knowledge  but,  to  a  remarkable  degree,  he  drew  from  each  pupil 
the  best  that  was  in  him.  He  made  every  boy  in  his  class  with  any  imagina- 
tion or  ambition  believe  that  he  could  achieve  great  things  and  then  he  led 
them  to  the  heights.  We  have  made  marvelous  progress  in  the  educational 
field  in  buildings  and  laboratories  and  in  other  ways.  It  would  be  the 
greatest  development  and  the  greatest  progress  if  all  of  the  teachers  could 
catch  the  spirit  of  the  teaching  of  Dr.  Foy.  He  could  see  in  the  dullest 
boy  possibilities  of  greatness.  More  than  that,  he  could  make  the  boy  feel 
the  call  to  bigger  things.  He  could  teach  him  Caesar  and  Virgil,  and  then 
make  him  like  to  translate  a  conversation  from  English  into  Latin  and  from 
Latin  into  English,  teaching  him  to  distinguish  fine  parts  of  speech  and  to 
love  literature  (fine  prose  and  fine  poems),  and  to  immerse  himself  in  the 
classics.  Such  a  teacher  must  have  the  divine  afflatus,  but  he  must  also 
have  the  human  touch  and  understanding  and  love  to  associate  with  flaming 
youth.  These  Dr.  Foy  had  to  a  marked  degree.  When  he  was  teaching  you 
felt  that  he  was  interested  in  you.  He  woke  you  up,  not  by  shaking  you, 
but  by  showing  you  a  light. 

After  he  left  Wilson  I  never  saw  him  again  until  the  year  of  1916, 
though  I  had  some  correspondence  with  him.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  that 
year  that  my  wife  and  I  attended  the  Democratic  National  Convention  in 
St.  Louis  and  I  invited  Dr.  Foy  as  a  guest  in  my  box.  At  the  same  time 
my  wife  invited  Miss  Jane  Long,  who  was  her  teacher  at  Peace  Institute, 
Raleigh,  North  Carolina.  We  regarded  it  as  a  high-water  day  for  us  both 
to  have  teachers  of  our  youth,  who  had  come  to  St.  Louis  to  fill  larger 
spheres,  with  us  together  in  this  important  gathering  and  to  be  present  in 
the  Convention  which  renominated  President  Wilson.  It  was  interesting  to 
see  these  people,  grown  old  in  beautiful  service,  with  keen  interest  in  the 
problems  of  1916,  and  retaining  affection  for,  and  interest  in,  their  former 
students,  a  sentiment  fully  reciprocated. 

Joseph  Kinsey  was  a  native  of  Jones  County,  born  1843.  He 
was  a  soldier  of  the  Confederacy.  He  was  captured  below  Fort 
Sumter  and  imprisoned  at  Johnson's  Island,  Sandusky,  Ohio, 
for  twenty-one  months.  After  his  release  in  1865,  he  taught  in 
a  log  schoolroom  in  his  native  community,  Pleasant  Hill,  in 
Jones  County.  He  boarded  with  Gaston  Fordham.  In  1867  he 
taught  at  Koonce's  Schoolhouse.  This  was  quite  near  the  pres- 
ent village  of  Comfort,  In  1868  he  established  the  Pleasant  Hill 
Academy  having  the  assistance  of  Joseph  H.  Foy.     Later  he 


164  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

established  with  his  brother  Robert,  the  Kinsey  School  at 
LaGrange  which  continued  for  over  twenty  years.  He  con- 
ducted also  for  awhile  the  Kinston  Collegiate  Institute.  His 
final  and  greatest  effort  was  the  founding  of  the  Kinsey  Semin- 
ary at  Wilson  in  1897,  out  of  which  grew  Atlantic  Christian 
College.  Two  of  the  textbooks  used  by  Kinsey  in  his  schools 
were  Stoddard's  Mental  Arithmetic  and  Tower's  Mental  Alge- 
bra. There  was  no  table  of  answers  given  to  the  problems  in 
either  book.  It  was  pure  mental  work.  Such  stark  intellectual 
effort  required  the  utmost  concentration.  It  tended  to  develop 
all  mental  capacity  of  the  student.  It  built  mind  which  had 
analytical  power.  It  meant  hard  work  for  teacher  as  well  as 
student.    Schools  of  today  do  not  use  these  textbooks. 

Hon.  F.  M.  Simmons  has  represented  North  Carolina  in  the 
United  States  Senate  for  the  last  twenty-five  years.  He  paid 
the  following  tribute  to  his  teacher,  Joseph  Kinsey:10 

Shortly  after  his  return  from  war,  Mr.  Kinsey  established  a  school  at 
Comfort,  Jones  County.  At  that  time  there  were  very  few  schools  of  any 
kind  in  the  County,  and  Mr.  Kinsey  was  not  long  in  establishing  for  his 
school  quite  a  reputation  in  adjoining  counties  as  well  as  that  of  Jones. 
Besides  the  patronage  of  the  neighborhood,  he  had  quite  a  number  of 
boarders  from  these  counties.  This  school  subsequently  moved  from  Com- 
fort to  Pleasant  Hill  and  was  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Kinsey 
and  Dr.  Foy. 

I  was  a  student  both  at  Comfort  and  at  Pleasant  Hill.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber exactly  the  length  of  my  attendance,  but  I  think  it  was  something  over 
two  years.  I  went  directly  from  his  school  to  College,  where  I  entered  the 
Freshman  Class.  I  think  I  was  the  first  one  of  Mr.  Kinsey 's  pupils  to  enter 
College.  Mr.  Kinsey  manifested  a  great  interest  in  my  success  at  college 
and  made  a  special  trip  from  his  school  to  my  home,  twenty  miles  distant, 
the  day  before  I  was  to  leave  to  give  me  the  benefit  of  his  wise  suggestions 
and  advice. 

Before  I  left  Pleasant  Hill  Academy  that  institution  had  so  grown  in 
reputation  and  the  number  of  its  pupils  that  it  ranked  among  the  leading 
local  institutions  of  that  section.  The  standards  of  the  institution  were  of 
the  highest.  Everywhere  Mr.  Kinsey  was  held  in  highest  esteem  as  a  man 
and  a  teacher.  He  was  not  a  hearer  of  recitations  merely ;  he  was  a  teacher 
in  the  best  sense  of  that  word. 

He  was  interested  in  every  one  of  his  pupils.  He  studied  the  traits,  char- 
acteristics and  capabilities  of  each  of  them  and  with  infinite  resource  and 
patience  sought  to  develop  the  best  in  each  of  them.  Himself  full  of  en- 
ergy, enthusiasm  and  ambition,  he  sought — and  successfully — to  impart 
these  qualities  to  his  pupils  with  wonderful  results. 


EARLY   EDUCATION    AMONG    DISCIPLES  165 

When  he  moved  his  school  to  LaGrauge  many  of  his  old  pupils  followed 
him,  and  he  continued  to  the  last  to  receive  a  large  patronage  from  the 
counties  that  supported  the  Academy  at  Pleasant  Hill.  His  school  at 
LaGrange  was  on  a  much  broader  scale.  It  soon  took  rank  as  one  of  the 
first  institutions  of  learning  in  all  Eastern  Carolina,  while  Mr.  Kinsey  came 
to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  leading  educators  in  the  State. 

Wherever  Mr.  Kinsey  taught,  whether  in  Jones  or  Lenoir,  he  was  highly 
esteemed  by  the  people  and  loved  by  his  pupils.  Speaking  for  myself,  I 
regard  him,  in  all  the  essentials  of  a  great  teacher,  as  one  of  the  greatest 
educators  the  State  has  produced.  For  me  personally,  he  did  much  to  mold 
my  future  life,  and  I  cannot  think  or  speak  of  him  except  in  terms  of 
affection  and  reverence. 

Josephus  Latham  served  as  Superintendent  of  education  in 
Pitt  County.  Also,  for  a  period  he  taught  at  Farmville.  Dr. 
Walsh  writing  of  the  State  group  of  Disciple  educators  in  May, 
1876,  commended  him  thus:11  '%Bro.  Latham  is  now  conducting 
a  school,  at  Farmville,  Pitt  County,  which  is  also  in  a  prosper- 
ous condition.  He  is  a  popular  teacher  whose  greatest  profi- 
ciency and  efficiency  is  in  the  Mathematics,  rather  than  Philol- 
ogy, or  the  Languages." 

C.  W.  Howard  taught  mathematics  in  the  Kinston  Collegiate 
Institute  in  1876.  He  was  associated  with  Dr.  K.  H.  Lewis, 
Principal.  Afterwards  he  was  Superintendent  of  Education  in 
Lenoir  County. 

Individual  Disciples  were  serving  with  distinction  in  private 
schools;  but  there  was  a  conviction  among  leaders  that  the  com- 
munion as  such  should  own  and  control  a  school.  Around  this 
they  could  rally  their  strength  in  cultivation  of  loyal  leadership 
to  meet  real  religious  necessity.  In  the  1883  Convention,  the 
Moderator  John  J.  Harper,  appointed  R.  A.  Bynum,  G.  W.  Bar- 
rett, S.  H.  Spain,  J.  W.  Hodges,  S.  B.  Taylor,  M.  T.  Move,  and 
I.  L.  Chestnutt  as  a  commission  to  buy  the  Farmville  Academy, 
if  found  expedient.  If  they  bought  it,  the}'  were  to  open  ''books 
of  subscription,"  for  stock.  When  sufficient  stock  was  sub- 
scribed, J.  J.  Harper  was  to  call  together  the  stockholders  at 
Farmville,  to  "organize  by  electing  a  Board  of  Trustees  and 
attend  to  such  other  matters  as  will  facilitate  the  speedy  open- 
ing of  a  school  under  Christian  auspices."  This  also  never 
materialized. 

The  Committee  on  Education  in  the  1886  Convention  called 
attention  to  Disciple  losses  incurred  by  the  lack  of  a  brotherhood 
school  within  the  State.     They  charged  that  some  Disciple  stu- 


166  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

dents  "come  home  prejudiced  against  the  Church  of  their  par- 
ents, and  in  some  instances,  cannot  even  commune  with  the 
mothers  who  nursed  them  in  infancy."  They  recommended, 
however,  the  private  schools  in  which  leading  Disciples  were 
teaching,  or  which  were  located  in  Disciple  centers,  as  follows : 
"The  Kinston  School,  the  female  school  at  LaGrange,  Miss 
Whitley's  School  at  Oak  Grove,  and  the  Pantego  school."  In 
the  1887  Convention  the  ministers  were  requested  to  take  up 
offerings  each  November  in  the  Churches  to  aid  young  men  in 
preparing  for  the  ministry.  From  this,  $25.00  was  realized.  Qlt 
was  appropriated  in  1889  to  J.  F.  Sumrell  to  attend  Clarella 
Institute,  near  the  home  of  Dr.  F.  W.  Dixon.  He  was  preparing 
for  the  ministrvp 

A  tangible  result  was  effected  in  the  New  Bern  Convention  of 
1891  when  the  following  report  of  the  Committee  on  Education 
was  adopted : 

Resolved:  1.  That  the  President  of  this  Convention  appoint  a  board  of 
trustees,  consisting  of  fifteen  representative  brethren,  who  are  authorized  to 
advertise  and  otherwise  bring  the  matter  before  the  friends  of  education 
throughout  the  State. 

2.  The  board  of  trustees  shall  entertain  bids  or  propositions  looking  to 
the  location  of  the  school,  and  are  empowered  to  locate  the  site,  erect  neces- 
sary buildings  and  exercise  general  supervision  over  the  school. 

3.  That  all  our  Evangelists  are  requested  to  bring  the  matter  before  their 
respective  congregations  and  agitate  the  question,  both  privately  and  pub- 
licly, and  seek  to  secure  unity  of  action  and  hearty  co-operation  to  found 
an  institution  of  learning  that  will  be  the  pride  and  glory  of  us  as  a  people. 

In  compliance  with  the  above,  the  President  appointed  the  following 
named  Board  of  Trustees:  J.  C.  Bishop,  Hyde  County;  T.  J.  Basnight, 
Washington  County;  W.  H.  Wilson,  Martin  County;  J.  L.  Winfield,  Beau- 
fort County;  Fernando  Ward,  Pitt  County;  John  Pierce,  Pitt  County;  R. 
A.  L.  Carr,  Greene  County;  Noah  Rouse,  Lenoir  County;  S.  B.  Taylor, 
Onslow  County;  W.  B.  Isler,  Jones  County;  Alfred  Gaskins,  Craven  County; 
J.  B.  Martin,  Pamlico  County;  W.  W.  Farmer,  Wilson  County;  X.  B.  Hood, 
Harnett  County;  T.  C.  Davis,  Johnston  County. 

J.  L.  Winfield  was  made  Chairman  of  this  Board.  By  his 
aggressive  leadership  he  was  able  to  report  for  the  Board  as  fol- 
lows in  the  Convention  of  1892 : 

1.  We  have  agitated  the  question  through  the  columns  of  the  Watch 
Tower  since  our  last  Convention  and  solicited  propositions  from  places  that 
seemed  desirous  for  the  institution. 


EARLY   EDUCATION   AMONG   DISCIPLES  167 

2.  We  have  received  letters  and  suggestions  to  locate  the  institution  at 
Wilson's  Mills,  Dunn,  Grifton,  and  Ayden;  but  the  propositions  are  not  of 
such  a  nature  that  justifies  the  Trustees  in  accepting  either  place  as  a  per- 
manent location. 

3.  An  Institution,  known  as  Carolina  Institute,  in  Beaufort  County,  six 
miles  from  Washington,  has  been  erected  since  our  last  Convention.  This 
institution  is  under  the  supervision  of  the  Disciples,  who  are  in  sympathy 
with  our  educational  work.  The  Directors  have  given  us  the  use  of  the 
Institute  free  of  charge. 

4.  The  Directors  of  the  Institute  with  the  Board  of  Trustees,  have  se- 
cured the  services  of  Prof.  L.  T.  Rightsell,  a  Christian  gentleman  of  fine 
scholarly  attainments,  who  is  in  sympathy  with  all  our  church  and  educa- 
tional work. 

5.  The  Institute  opened  Sept.  26,  1892,  and  already  six  ministerial  stu- 
dents are  enrolled  and  the  outlook  for  more  is  very  hopeful. 

6.  We  commend  Carolina  Institute  to  the  Convention  and  to  all  our 
young  men  as  being  worthy  of  the  highest  recognition. 

7.  We  ask  that  the  Board  of  Trustees  be  continued  another  year,  during 
which  time  we  believe  it  very  probable  that  the  Institution  contemplated  by 
the  Convention  will  be  established. 

As  stated  in  the  report  this  was  a  preliminary  effort.  At  the 
Washington  Convention  of  1893  they  reported  the  establish- 
ment of  Carolina  Christian  College  at  Ayden,  as  follows: 

1.  We  kept  the  subject  of  locating  a  college  under  our  auspices  before 
the  brotherhood  eighteen  months,  and  solicited  propositions  looking  to  the 
establishment  of  a  school  contemplated  by  the  Convention. 

2.  A  Meeting  of  the  Board  was  called  at  Ayden,  April  19,  1893,  and  it 
was  decided  to  accept  the  proposition  made  by  Ayden,  which  was  $100.00, 
and  5  acres  of  land. 

3.  A  building  committee  was  appointed,  and  work  was  pushed  forward 
to  completion.    The  school  opened  Sept.  18,  1893. 

4.  Prof.  Rightsell,  P.  S.  Swain,  J.  R.  Tingle,  Mrs.  Rightsell,  and  Miss 
Mollie  Winfield  were  chosen  faculty,  of  the  institution. 

5.  The  property  is  worth  $1,500. 

6.  A  purchase  of  five  acres  was  made  for  $250.00,  and  we  are  indebted 
for  the  same. 

We  submit  the  following  recommendations: 

1st.  That  a  Board  of  Trustees  be  elected  by  this  Convention. 

2nd.  That  a  financial  agent  be  employed  in  the  interest  of  the  College. 

3rd.  That  a  musical  instrument  be  purchased  by  this  Convention. 

4th.  That  Bro.  J.  R.  Tingle  be  encouraged  in  his  Bible  Department. 

5th.  That  means  be  devised  to  pay  the  tuition  of  all  ministerial  students. 


168  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Enough  money  was  contributed  in  this  Washington  Conven- 
tion to  build  a  music  room.  H.  C.  Bo  wen  gave  a  piano.  A  main 
building  was  erected  and  equipped.  Seventy  pupils  were  en- 
rolled at  the  opening.  The  debt  reported  at  the  1894  Conven- 
tion was  less  than  $400.00.  I.  L.  Chestnutt  was  made  President 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  R.  \V.  Smith,  Secretary.  Other 
Trustees  were :  Moses  T.  Move,  Jesse  Cannon,  Caleb  Cannon,  J. 
R.  Tingle,  and  C.  W.  Howard.  The  Ayden  Christian  Church 
was  organized  in  the  College  building  in  1894. 

In  the  Convention  of  1895,  a  new  trustee  was  elected,  namely, 
Willis  R.  Williams.  In  1897  they  reported  that  they  were  oper- 
ating on  a  total  annual  budget  of  $864.11.  The  enrollment  was 
one  hundred  and  forty.  A.  J.  Move  was  chosen  "Financial 
Agent."  In  that  year  J.  L.  Winfield  died.  In  writing  his 
obituary  J.  R.  Tingle  said  that  Winfield  had  been  the  founder 
of  the  institution.  Tingle  stated:  "In  his  death  the  Carolina 
Christian  College  sustains  the  loss  of  its  most  earnest  and  ardent 
advocate."  Asa  J.  Manning  was  called  to  head  the  institution. 
He  gave  to  it  five  of  the  best  years  of  his  life. 

In  1898  the  Charter  of  the  school  was  changed,  so  that  stock 
could  be  sold.  Ayden  Disciples  bought  most  of  it.  The  North 
Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Convention  participated  with 
twenty  shares.  A  new  building  was  erected  and  the  mortgage 
reduced  to  one  hundred  dollars,  approximately.  In  1902  the 
trustees  presented  their  last  annual  report  to  the  State  Conven- 
tion through  their  President,  J.  R.  Tingle.  The  enrollment  at 
the  Spring  term  had  been  one  hundred  and  fifty.  A  dormitory 
of  twenty  rooms  was  built  that  year  leaving  a  debt  of  two  thou- 
sand dollars.  A.  R.  Holton  and  Dr.  Joseph  Dixon  were  new 
Trustees  elected.  The  last  words  of  this  last  annual  report  were : 
"The  school  is  now  in  a  very  prosperous  condition  and  the  out- 
look better  than  at  any  time  in  its  history. 

The  Kinsey  Seminary  property  at  Wilson  was  purchased  by 
the  Disciples'  Convention  of  1901.  It  was  incorporated  as  At- 
lantic Christian  College  in  May,  1902.  Since  the  Disciples  were 
henceforward  to  concentrate  their  resources  at  Wilson  to  build 
up  the  new  institution  which  they  owned  in  fee  simple,  and 
which  had  opened  encouragingly,  it  was  agreed  to  dispose  of 
their  stock  in  Carolina  Christian  College.  Accordingly  the 
Ayden  property  was  sold.     The  Convention's  share  of  the  pro- 


EARLY    EDUCATION    AMONG    DISCIPLES  169 

ceeds  was  $500.00.  Upon  motion  of  D.  W.  Davis  it  was  agreed 
to  give  $360.00  of  this  to  the  Ayden  Church.  The  remainder, 
$140.00,  upon  motion  of  J.  L.  Burns  was  given  to  Atlantic  Chris- 
tian College. 

A  private  school  for  boys  and  girls  which  started  a  consider- 
able number  of  young  men  in  the  ministry  was  that  originated 
by  John  W.  Tyndall.12  It  is  at  Dawson  in  Lenoir  County,  about 
eight  miles  from  Kinston.  This  was  formally  opened  in  Janu- 
ary, 1907.  They  have  two  large  frame  buildings  used  for  dormi- 
tories, classrooms,  and  culinary  service,  and  two  dwellings.  They 
have  about  seven  acres  of  ground.  In  recent  years  they  have 
had  an  average  attendance  of  about  thirty  pupils.  The  institu- 
tion has  borne  a  different  name  under  each  of  the  three  adminis- 
trations. Under  John  W.  Tyndall,  1907-1914,  it  was  called 
Industrial  Christian  College;  under  James  M.  Perry,  1914-1916, 
it  was  known  as  Industrial  School  and  Music  Academy;  under 
Joseph  A.  Saunders,  1916  to  the  present  time,  it  is  designated 
Carolina  Institute  and  Bible  Seminary. 

Notes 

Christian  Friend  and  Bible  Unionist,  June,  1854,  page  29.  2Ibid.,  Nov., 
1854,  pages  17(5,  177.  'From  letter  in  possession  of  Mrs.  J.  C.  Eagles.  Wil- 
son, N.  C.  4The  Disciples  Advocate,  Feb.,  1853,  page  159.  5Ibid.,  March, 
1858,  page  179,  Art.  "Antioch  Female  Seminary."  KCarolina  Christian 
Monthly,  May,  1860,  page  120.  'Watch  Tower,  Sept.,  1S77,  page  401.  8"Life 
and  Speeches  of  Chas.  B.  Aycock,"  page  19.  "From  letter  of  Hon.  Josephus 
Daniels.  Raleigh,  N.  C,  to  the  Author,  April  22.  1927.  "From  letter  of  Hon. 
F.  M.  Simmons.  Washington,  D.  C,  to  the  Author,  March  11,  1927.  "Watch 
Tower,  May,  1876,  page  9.  ^Restoration  Herald,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Feb., 
1926,   page  13. 


Chapter  XVIII 

FOUNDING  OF  ATLANTIC  CHRISTIAN  COLLEGE 

Joseph  Kinsey  opened  the  Kinsey  School  under  new  adminis- 
trative order  in  LaGrange  on  August  30,  1886.  It  was  a  school 
for  "girls  and  young  ladies."  After  continuing  for  eleven 
years  with  decided  success,  he  was  offered  a  location  at  Wilson. 
In  the  Spring  of  1897  Elder  P.  D.  Gold  of  Wilson,  representing 
public  sentiment  in  Wilson,  said  in  the  local  press  i1 

While  we  have  an  excellent  Graded  School  here  now,  there  is  need  of  a 
Seminary  of  a  higher  grade  of  scholarship,  which  the  Graded  School  would 
prepare  pupils  to  enter.  Mr.  Kinsey,  of  LaGrange,  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful teachers  of  a  female  school  in  my  knowledge,  proposes  to  move  his 
school  to  this  place  upon  sufficient  inducements.  This  will  supply  us  with 
the  school  we  have  needed  for  years  that  our  daughters  may  receive  a 
finished  education  at  home.  Wilson  will  be  exceedingly  fortunate  to  obtain 
his  services.    Now  is  the  time  for  a  united  and  serious  effort  in  this  matter. 

To  the  Wilson  Educational  Association  was  entrusted  the  con- 
trol and  operation  of  the  Kinsey  Seminary.  They  erected,  under 
the  supervision  of  Joseph  Kinsey  a  large  building  in  Wilson  in 
the  summer  of  1897.  This  building  which  stood  on  a  six  acre 
plat,  faced  toward  the  city.  It  was  then  in  forests  of  pine ;  not 
a  residence  to  be  seen.  City  development  had  not  reached  this 
point  in  the  northern  environs.  The  cost  of  this  building  ap- 
proximated twenty  thousand  dollars.  There  were  eleven  men 
on  the  Board  of  Directors  as  follows:2  George  Hackney,  Presi- 
dent ;  Joseph  Kinsey,  First  Vice-President ;  Geo.  D.  Green,  Sec- 
ond Vice-President;  Jonas  Oettinger,  Secretary  and  Treasurer; 
Col.  J.  F.  Bruton,  Hon.  F.  A.  Woodard,  Elder  P.  D.  Gold,  Hay- 
wood Edmundson,  Judge  H.  G.  Connor,  Silas  Lucas,  and  Jona- 
than Applewhite.  The  Executive  Committee  consisted  of  George 
Hackney,  Joseph  Kinsey,  Geo.  D.  Green,  and  Jonas  Oettinger. 

Kinsey  Seminary  opened  in  Wilson  September  15,  1897.  The 
catalogue  for  that  year  carried  this  announcement : 

During  the  past  year  the  business  men  and  citizens  of  Wilson,  realizing 
that  the  progress  of  a  town  is  due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  educational 
advantages  it  can  offer,  coupled  with  push  and  tact,  conceived  the  plan  of 
erecting  suitable  brick  buildings  with  all  modern  conveniences  and  invited 

170 


FOUNDING    OF    ATLANTIC    CHRISTIAN    COLLEGE  171 

the  principal  of  Kinsey  Seminary  to  move  his  school  to  their  town.  To  meet 
the  increasing  demand  on  him  for  better  advantages  that  the  Seminary 
must  offer  to  cope  with  other  institutions  he  accepted  their  offer  and  the 
Fall  term  of  1897  will  open  in  a  two-story  brick  building,  with  electric 
lights,  water,  completely  sewered,  and  heated  by  steam.  Expense  will  not 
be  spared  to  make  it  equal  if  not  superior  to  any  school  building  in  the 
State. 

It  will  have  a  large  chapel  and  art  room,  society  halls,  dining  room,  and 
principal's  residence,  all  under  the  same  roof,  and  attached  to  the  same 
building  an  auditorium  that  will  seat  500. 

The  Seminary  continued  four  sessions.  Meanwhile  the  health 
of  President  Kinsey  declined.  He  had  given  thirty-six  years 
continuously  to  teaching  and  school  administration.  Moreover 
the  financial  requirements  were  too  great  for  him  in  this  venture 
which  looked  to  the  establishment  of  the  leading  institution  of 
learning  in  Eastern  North  Carolina.  It  was  an  ambitious 
project. 

So  in  the  early  summer  of  1901,  it  was  opportune  for  the  Dis- 
ciples to  consider  the  proposition  of  purchasing  this  property  for 
the  maintenance  of  their  college.  Daniel  E.  Motley  was  State 
Evangelist.  In  May  and  June  he  wrote  a  series  of  articles  for 
the  Watch  Tower  entitled  "Our  Need  of  a  College."  He  was  a 
promoter  of  education.  In  making  a  case  for  a  Carolina  Dis- 
ciples' College  he  said:3 

Our  nearest  college  to  eastern  North  Carolina  is  Milligan  and  it  is  about 
five  hundred  miles  away.  Our  next  is  probably  Lexington  (Kentucky)  and 
it  is  much  farther.  Here  is  all  Eastern  Virginia,  the  whole  of  North  Caro- 
lina and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  in  which  we  have  no  college.  *  *  * 
A  College  situated  in  North  Carolina  could  and  would  draw  students  from 
all  the  section  of  country  mentioned.  *  *  *  We  spoke  of  Milligan  and 
Lexington  being  far  away.  The  railroad  fare  and  expense  from  eastern 
North  Carolina  to  Lexington  and  return  would  pay  a  student 's  tuition  a 
whole  session,  and  this  is  no  small  item.  And  many  of  our  boys  who  go 
away  to  other  States  to  be  educated  become  attached  to  them  and  never 
return.  This  is  coming  to  be  no  small  matter  to  North  Carolina.  *  *  * 
The  general  life-uplifting  influence  of  a  sensible,  humanity-serving  and 
God-loving  college  would  be  of  untold  benefit  to  us.  I  do  not  see  that  we 
can  do  much  without  it,  and  I  think  I  see  it  would  be  a  great  blessing  to  us. 

Other  Disciple  leaders  wrote  and  preached  on  the  subject 
throughout  the  summer  and  early  fall  of  1901.  When  the  State 
Convention  met  at  Kinston,  October  29  to  November  2,  1901, 
the  stage  was  set  for  acquiring  the  Wilson  property.  It  met  in 
the  brick  Church   on   Caswell   Street,  built  during  J.   J.   Har- 


172  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

per's  pastorate.  W.  G.  Johnston  was  then  minister.  The  at- 
tendance was  large  and  was  a  fine  representation  from  the 
churches.  Some  visitors  were  B.  L.  Smith,  B.  A.  Abbott,  and 
Burris  A.  Jenkins.  Thursday  morning  Daniel  E.  Motley  gave 
a  "thrilling  address"  on  "Our  Educational  Needs."  The  Com- 
mittee on  Education  then  reported  as  follows: 

Whereas,  The  public-spirited  people  of  the  town  of  Wilson  have  offered 
to  donate  to  the  North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Convention,  valuable 
school  property  upon  terms  that  are  exceedingly  liberal,  and  whereas,  it  is 
the  sense  of  the  North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Convention  that  said 
offer  should  be  accepted,  and  that  the  Christian  church  should  build  up  in 
North  Carolina,  a  great  institution  of  learning. 

Therefore,  be  it  resolved  by  the  North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary 
Convention,  that  the  Board  of  Managers  of  said  North  Carolina  Christian 
Missionary  Convention  and  their  successors  be,  and  they  are  hereby  ap- 
pointed, the  agents  of  the  said  North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Conven- 
tion, and  they  are  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  accept  the  proposition 
of  the  said  people  of  Wilson,  to  receive  deeds,  conveyances,  transports  of 
stock  for  said  property  (the  same  being  known  as  the  Kinsey  Seminary 
property)  to  execute  all  conveyances,  obligations  and  contracts  necessary  to 
carry  into  effect  this  resolution. 

And  the  said  Board  of  Managers  of  the  said  North  Carolina  Christian 
Missionary  Convention  are  further  empowered  and  directed  to  appoint  four 
discreet  persons  who  shall  act  with  said  Board  of  Managers  as  trustees  of 
the  institution  of  being  hereafter  organized  and  established  in  said  prop- 
erty that  said  managers  and  trustees  are  directed  to  take  such  steps  as  they 
may  deem  necessary  and  expedient  to  organize,  establish  and  conduct  a  first 
class  institution  of  learning  in  the  property  aforesaid,  the  same  to  be  the 
property  of  and  conducted  under  auspices  and  control  of  the  said  North 
Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Convention,  and  they  are  hereby  given  full 
power  and  authority  to  do  any  and  all  things  necessary  to  carry  into  effect 
the  full  interest  and  meaning  of  this  resolution. 

D.  W.  Davis, 
B.  H.  Melton, 
W.  J.  Crumpler, 

E.  A.  Moye, 

Dr.  H.  D.  Harper, 

Committee. 

There  was  an  enthusiastic  discussion  of  the  report,  led  by  "W. 
G.  Johnston,  J.  T.  Grubbs,  A.  F.  Leighton,  A.  J.  Moye,  W.  R. 
Williams,  D.  E.  Motley,  D.  H.  Petree,  and  B.  H.  Melton.  The 
resolution  was  adopted.  The  first  trustees  appointed  for  the 
new  institution  as  provided  for  in  the  resolution  were :  J.  J. 
Harper,  Joseph  Kinsey,  B.  H.  Melton,  D.  W.  Arnold,  George 


FOUNDING    OF    ATLANTIC    CHRISTIAN    COLLEGE  173 

Hackney,  E.  A.  Moye,  J.  W.  Hines,  K,  R.  Tunstall,  and  J.  S. 
Basnight. 

The  next  move  was  the  financing  of  the  enterprise.  An  ap- 
peal for  this  was  made  immediately  in  the  Convention.  About 
a  hundred  pledges  were  given  by  individuals  and  churches  from 
which  $3,036.10  was  realized  in  cash  within  the  next  year. 
Within  a  few  weeks  the  deed  for  the  property  was  made  to  the 
North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Convention.  The  outstand- 
ing debt  was  only  $8,000.00,  bearing  interest  at  six  per  cent. 
The  name  chosen  for  the  school  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  was 
Atlantic  Christian  College.  It  was  incorporated  May  1,  1902. 
J.  J.  Harper  of  Smithfield  was  the  first  Chancellor  of  the  Col- 
lege. He  visited  the  Churches  to  stimulate  interest.  In  the 
Watch  Tower,  under  the  caption,  "The  College  and  the  Can- 
vass, ' '  he  said  :4 

Our  brethren  and  sisters  generally  are  very  willing  to  contribute  small 
amounts,  and  this  is  the  best  that  many  of  them  can  do,  and  I  am  very 
thankful  for  any  amount,  however  small.  But  there  are  many  Disciples  in 
North  Carolina  who  could  contribute  large  amounts,  and  large  amounts  are 
necessary,  as  well  as  small  ones,  to  manage  a  large  enterprise,  such  as  we 
have  in  hand.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  say  that  many  have  already  done 
nobly  in  the  size  of  their  contributions.  I  can  say  in  all  truth  that  some 
have  surprised  me  with  their  liberality.  And  taken  all  in  all,  I  feel  greatly 
encouraged. 

He  agitated  the  endowment  fund.  He  advocated  the  annuity 
plan  and  created  good  will  for  the  college  throughout  its  area. 

J.  C.  Coggins  was  engaged  for  the  first  President  of  the  Col- 
lege. He  traveled  among  the  constituents  speaking  fluently  for 
the  College  in  the  Summer  of  1902. 

A  movement  was  advocated  by  the  Pastor  of  the  Wilson 
Church,  B.  H.  Melton,  and  effected  by  women  of  the  Wilson 
Church  for  the  furnishing  of  the  thirty-three  student  rooms  at 
the  College.  This  cost  thirty  dollars  per  room.  Nearly  seven 
hundred  dollars  were  raised  within  the  year  among  Churches, 
Bible  Schools,  and  individuals  of  the  State  for  this  purpose. 
Treasurer  George  Hackney  added  this  to  his  report  making  the 
gross  contributions  for  the  first  year  for  the  College  almost  four 
thousand  dollars. 

That  the  Disciples  had  enthusiastic  leadership  in  this  cause 
may  be  seen  by  the  following  from  B.  H.  Melton  :6 


174  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

Yesterday  (July  21,  1902),  I  took  a  gentleman  from  Western  North 
Carolina  through  our  college  building.  I  showed  him  the  spacious  Audi- 
torium that  will  seat  over  500  people.  I  took  him  through  the  six  large 
recitations  rooms,  piloted  him  through  the  beautiful  chapel  and  Art  rooms 
and  dining  hall,  all  on  the  first  floor.  We  then  went  to  the  second  story  to 
see  the  thirty-five  well  ventilated  bedrooms,  furnished  with  white  enamel 
beds,  elastic  felt  mattresses  and  everything  else  to  make  the  rooms  comfort- 
able and  cozy.  I  showed  him  that  every  inch  of  white  wall  had  been  deco- 
rated and  every  inch  of  woodwork  newly  painted  during  the  last  sixty  days. 
I  told  him  the  entire  building  was  heated  by  steam  in  cold  weather,  lighted 
all  the  time  by  electricity  and  completely  sewered.  I  then  took  him  up  on 
the  pinnacle  of  the  temple  (Tower)  and  showed  him  the  six  acre  campus, 
the  top  of  the  city  and  surrounding  scenery.  What  do  you  think  he  said? 
Hear  him:  "I  have  visited  every  college  in  North  Carolina.  This  is  the 
best  equipped  single  college  building  in  the  State.  With  this  handsome 
structure  and  the  strong  faculty  of  Christian  teachers  that  you  have  your 
church  people  should  see  that  the  patronage  in  September  is  larger  than  the 
building  will  accommodate. ' '  Let  our  preachers,  our  business  men,  our 
Christian  women  talk,  pray  and  work  earnestly  for  Atlantic  Christian  Col- 
lege for  the  next  six  weeks  and  the  good  results  of  our  united  efforts  will 
be  far  beyond  our  best  expectation. 

Atlantic  Christian  College  opened  on  September  3,  1902.  The 
faculty"  numbered  nine.  The  enrollment  as  reported  on  October 
25,  was  one  hundred  and  eighty-five.  Of  these,  one  hundred  and 
forty-one  were  women,  and  forty-four  were  men.  There  were 
ten  ministerial  students.  George  Hackney  reported  to  the  State 
Convention  that  year:  "The  enrollment  for  the  first  year  is  far 
beyond  our  highest  expectations.  Our  building  is  taxed  to  its 
utmost  capacity  and  is  not  sufficiently  large  to  accommodate  the 
present  student  body."  This  Convention  empowered  the  Trus- 
tees to  issue  bonds  to  cover  initial  cost  of  property  and  recent 
improvements.  This  was  done  to  the  amount  of  eleven  thousand 
dollars.  These  bonds  were  fully  paid  in  1911  under  President 
Jesse  C.  Caldwell.  At  that  time  also  a  dormitory  for  men  was 
erected.  The  first  epoch  of  struggle  for  the  new  college  of  the 
Disciples  had  ended.  She  faced  the  future  with  renewed  con- 
fidence. 

The  administrations  of  the  College  have  been  as  follows:  J. 
C.  Coggins,  1902- '04;  J.  J.  Harper,  1904- '07;  J.  C.  Caldwell, 
1907- '16;  R.  A.  Smith,  1916- '20;  H.  S.  Hilley,  1920-. 

To  tell  the  story  of  Atlantic  Christian  College  would  make  a 
volume.  It  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this  work.  Some  day  the 
story  must  be  written.    We  close  with  an  incident  which  shows 


(, 


FOUNDING   OF    ATLANTIC    CHRISTIAN    COLLEGE  175 


the  trend  of  the  present  support  of  this  institution.  Among  the 
original  contributors  to  the  College  in  the  Kinston  Convention 
of  1901  was  J.  W.  Hines,  of  Rocky  Mount.  He  then  gave  one 
hundred  dollars.  Twenty-five  years  later  it  was  necessary  to  the 
future  life  and  service  of  the  College  as  an  A  Grade  institution 
within  the  State,  that  $300,000.00  be  added  to  the  productive 
endowment.  For  this  a  crusade  was  conducted.  Hines  in- 
creased his  gift  a  thousandfold.  He  conditioned  his  gift  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  on  the  securing  of  the  remainder  of 
the  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  by  January  1,  1930. 

With  this  and  the  other  accumulated  resources  of  Atlantic 
Christian  College,  the  North  Carolina  Disciples,  educationally 
speaking,  will  come  into  their  own."\ 

Notes 

Quoted  in  the  School  Girl,  LaGrange,  N.  C.,  April,  1897,  page  4.  »Cata- 
logue,  Kinsey  Seminary,  1897.  3Watch  Tower,  June  5,  1901,  page  1.  *Ibid., 
Jan.   2,   1902,    page  4.     "Ibid.,   July  25,    1902,   page  2. 


Chapter  XIX 
THE  MINISTRY— ITS  ORDER 

As  the  Disciples  developed  they  faced  their  greatest  problem, 
that  of  leadership.  Their  pioneers  were  necessarily  all  adopted 
leaders.  That  is  to  say  they  came  over  from  other  Communions. 
A  ministry  indigenous  to  the  body,  and  otherwise  qualified  was 
of  first  importance,  if  they  were  to  come  permanently  to  be  a 
great  people.  Naturally  this  required  a  generation  to  mature. 
In  the  meantime  the  melting  pot  for  their  preachers  was  of 
prime  concern  to  the  Cause. 

An  evangelist  coming  to  the  North  Carolina  Disciples  from 
Kentucky  in  1850,  was  Jesse  P.  Nevill.  He  was  employed  as 
their  first  general  evangelist  in  1854.  His  salary  was  to  be 
twenty-five  dollars  per  month.  He  did  good  work.  The  records 
do  not  disclose  any  dissatisfaction  with  him  until  1857.  He 
was  then  summarily  dismissed  from  their  fellowship  by  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  adopted  in  their  Annual  Conference  at  Anti- 
och  (Farmville)  :  "In-as-much  as  Elder  Jesse  P.  Nevill  has  re- 
cently published  to  the  world  certain  untaught  speculations 
concerning  the  origin  and  increase  of  Devils,  the  perpetuity  of 
the  Earth,  and  offering  that  both  Heaven  and  Hell  are  in  this 
world :  All  of  which  we  consider  as  directly  and  indirectly  sub- 
version of  the  Christian  Faith,  he  be,  and  hereby  is,  expelled 
from  this  Conference." 

The  Disciples  had  continued  the  Baptist  order  of  a  stern  and 
active  discipline  in  the  local  church.  They  had  also  continued 
the  General  Conference  method  of  the  Free  Will  Baptists  in 
calling  the  roll  of  preachers  in  annual  executive  session  in  an 
open,  democratic,  free-for-all,  determination  of  the  current  roll. 
They  were  intensely  democratic,  but  they  took  great  pains  at 
this  point  to  see  that  their  democracy  was  not  abused.  They 
were  so  democratic  they  would  not  have  disfellowshipped  Nevill 
for  his  peculiar  opinions  if  he  had  held  them  in  reserve  and 
continued  preaching  the  Gospel  in  its  purity  and  power.  Nevill, 
however,  gave  persistently  his  peculiar  views  as  the  burden  of 
his  message.  This  was  shown  in  a  characteristic  conclusion  to  a 
sermon  which  he  preached  at  Raleigh  June  14,  1857. l    The  text 

176 


hdeon  Allen,  1817-1891 


John  James  Coltrain.  1817-1881 


THE    MINISTRY ITS    ORDER  177 

was  Ecclesiastes  1:4:  "The  earth  abideth  forever."  His  propo- 
sition was  that  heaven  and  hell  were  to  be  found  only  in  this 
present  life,  and  that  after  death  all  people  were  to  return  to  the 
earth.     He  concluded : 

This  is  my  view  of  the  subject  and  not  that  of  any  church  known  to  me. 
I  am  now  fishing  with  my  own  hook  and  select  my  own  bait  from  the  Bible 
for  the  great  Gospel  Field  where  there  are  many  fish.  *  *  *  Let  us  live 
with  the  fond  and  pleasing  hope  of  appearing  again  in  the  ages  to  come 
among  the  children  of  men  on  earth.  Let  us  spend  the  remainder  of  our 
life  in  making  arrangements  for  our  reappearance  in  the  land  of  our  nativ- 
ity. O  let  us  remember  that  our  felicity  and  honors  on  our  return  to  our 
race  will  be  determined  by  what  we  now  do. 

Other  cases  of  discipline  arose  in  the  annual  meetings.  It 
was  necessary"  that  the  procedure  be  given  a  concerted  and  ex- 
plicit form  in  order  that  the  method  might  be  regular,  and  fair, 
and  simple.  When  the  initial  Constitution  was  adopted  in  1857, 
no  provision  was  made  for  this.  But  in  1859,  John  P.  Dunn, 
Alfred  Moye,  and  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh,  were  asked  as  a  Commit- 
tee to  submit  a  revision  of  the  Constitution.  This  was  the  last 
conference  service  of  John  P.  Dunn,  as  he  died  soon  after.  The 
last  three  articles  of  the  revised  constitution  as  adopted  had 
teeth  in  them.     They  were  as  follows : 

Article  12.  No  person  proposing  to  unite  with  the  Disciples  of  Christ  as 
a  preacher  from  other  religious  parties,  shall  hereafter  be  received  without 
first  exhibiting  his  credentials,  and  giving  satisfactory  evidence  of  his  good 
moral  character. 

Article  13.  The  names  of  all  the  ministers  belonging  to  this  Conference 
shall  be  called  over  at  each  session  for  the  examination  of  Christian  char- 
acter; and  should  the  name  of  any  minister  be  stricken  from  the  list  of 
preachers,  for  immoral  conduct,  or  conduct  unbecoming  a  Christian  minister, 
it  will  be  the  duty  of  all  the  churches  composing  the  Conference,  to  carry 
out  the  wishes  of  said  conference,  in  reference  to  such  minister  or  minis- 
ters; and  any  church  receiving,  countenancing,  or  licensing  any  such  minis- 
ter to  exhort  in  public  or  to  preach,  without  ample  evidence  of  repentance 
and  reformation,  shall  be  remonstrated  with,  and  if  she  persists  in  her 
course,  shall  be  expelled  from  this  body. 

Article  14.  As  all  the  preachers  belonging  to  this  body  are  received  and 
their  names  enrolled  by  the  action  and  authority  of  the  Conference;  so  it 
is  not  competent  for  any  preacher  to  withdraw  from  this  body  except  by  a 
petition  presented  at  its  regular  sessions. 

The  reaction  which  followed  the  adoption  of  these  articles  we 
have  indicated  in  Chapter  Thirteen,  pages  127-8.  The  effect 
of  this  constitutional   provision  was  clearly  wholesome  in  the 


178  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

maintenance  of  ministerial  rectitude,  honor,  and  morale.  That 
mistakes  should  sometimes  be  made  was  inevitable.  What  ought 
to  have  been  done  was  not  always  clear,  even  to  the  most  repre- 
sentative Disciple  counsel.  Perhaps  the  most  impressive  instance 
of  this  was  the  case  of  Amos  J.  Battle.  Battle  came  to  the  Dis- 
ciples from  the  Missionary  Baptists  in  1852.  He  was  a  strong 
man.  He  had  been  Recording  Secretary  of  the  Baptist  State 
Convention.  He  was  from  one  of  the  leading  families  of  East- 
ern North  Carolina.  In  common  with  all  pioneer  preachers  of 
his  day  he  was  forced  to  earn  much  of  his  sustenance  from  serv- 
ice aside  from  the  ministry.  In  1857,  he  was  charged  with  mal- 
feasance by  the  Adams  Express  Company,  at  Hertford,  while 
in  their  employ.  It  was  alleged  also  that  he  did  not  return 
some  borrowed  money.  In  the  Annual  Conference  a  Commit- 
tee of  seven  leading  Disciples  reported  that  "his  errors  are  of 
sufficient  magnitude  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  it  is  inexpedi- 
ent for  him  to  exercise  his  gift  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel." 
Thirteen  years  later,  Josephus  Latham  who  kept  the  old  "Con- 
ference Book"  in  which  this  is  recorded  added  the  significant 
footnote :  ' '  Elder  Battle  lived  to  satisfy  all  of  his  excellence  and 
we  think  the  above  was  too  hastily  agreed  upon." 

Coincident  with  the  suspension  of  Battle  an  estrangement 
arose  between  him  and  Peter  E.  Hines,  another  preacher  of  the 
Disciples,  continuing  for  several  years.  Battle  found  refuge  in 
Christian  Hope  Church.  They  received  him,  and  he  became 
their  pastor.  In  the  1859  Conference,  Hines  sought  to  exclude 
Christian  Hope  from  fellowship  by  reason  of  this  breach  of  the 
ministerial  regulation.  John  M.  Gurganus  pled  good  faith  on 
the  part  of  Christian  Hope  and  promised  to  set  the  Church 
straight.  So  her  delegates  were  "seated."  This  promise  was 
not  kept,  and  in  the  next  year's  Conference  Christian  Hope  was 
cast  out.  At  the  same  time,  Gurganus  was  "merely  suspended 
for  one  year,  or  until  he  severs  his  connection  with  A.  J.  Bat- 
tle." He  was  off  the  roll  until  1864,  at  which  time  Christian 
Hope  also  was  ' '  received  back  into  the  Conference. ' '  Two  years 
afterward  Battle  wrote  asking  for  return  to  the  Conference. 
His  loyalty  and  humility  were  alike  notable.  He  was  told  to 
come  to  the  next  Annual  Meeting.  He  came  armed  with  the 
request  of  Corinth  Church  that  he  be  reinstated.  Whereupon 
he  was  "unanimously  received,"  and  was  given  his  old  job  of 


THE  MINISTRY — ITS  ORDER  179 

general  evangelizing.  His  estrangement  with  Hines  continued 
through  the  years.  Moses  T.  Moye  stepped  in  as  peacemaker, 
and  they  were  joyfully  reconciled.  Josephus  Latham  wrote 
Moye  about  this,  April  12,  1870,  and  said:2  "I  have  now  seen 
Bro.  Hines  and  he  seems  so  different,  so  much  more  devoted, 
and  his  prayer  was  so  beautiful  and  forgiving,  and  he  seems  to 
have  no  animosity  at  all  against  Elder  Battle.  Surely  my  dear 
brother  you  have  accomplished  one  of  the  greatest  deeds  of  your 
life." 

The  Disciples  with  courage  and  vision  faced  a  baffling  prob- 
lem and  practically  solved  it.  In  1867  the  Annual  Meeting 
passed  unanimously  the  following  resolution  offered  by  Dr. 
Walsh : 

"That  we  regard  it  as  disorderly  and  subversive  of  the  peace 
and  union  of  the  churches,  for  anyone  who  has  been  excluded, 
to  be  received  or  countenanced  as  a  Christian  or  Christian 
Preacher  by  any  other  church  or  congregation  until  all  difficul- 
ties are  adjusted  and  said  person  fully  restored  to  the  church 
from  which  he  was  excluded. ' ' 

The  conviction  grew  that  there  should  be  state  wide  concert 
in  the  Disciple  fellowship  in  supervision  of  candidates  for  the 
ministry.  In  the  Kinston  Convention  of  1872,  the  Committee 
on  Order  of  Business,  which  prepared  a  thorough-going  agenda 
for  the  meeting  submitted  an  experimental  policy  for  adoption 
in  the  eleventh  item  of  their  report  as  follows:  "A  Committee 
of  five  or  more  experienced  ministers  to  examine  candidates  for 
enrollment  on  the  list  of  preachers,  and  applicants  from  other 
religious  parties  desiring  to  unite  with  us,  but  nothing  in  this 
report  is  to  be  construed  as  depriving  the  churches  of  the  right 
to  authorize  any  pious  and  qualified  brother  among  them  to 
preach  the  gospel."  This  Examining  Committee  was  composed 
of  J.  J.  Harper,  Jno.  T.  Walsh,  M.  T.  Moye,  Josephus  Latham, 
Jos.  H.  Foy,  and  Gideon  Allen.  In  their  report  after  giving 
their  recommendations  as  to  particular  applicants  they  con- 
eluded  :3 

Hereafter,  from  the  ministers,  it  will  be  seen  and  generally  understood, 
that  all  candidates  for  enrollment  on  our  list,  shall  undergo  a  rigid  examina- 
tion on  the  elements  of  the  Gospel  by  the  Committee  appointed  for  that 
purpose.  It  should  be  understood,  brethren,  that  your  committee  do  not 
consider  it   a   part  of  their   function   to   instigate   an   inquisition   into  the 


180  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

moral  character  of  applicants,  considering  that  that  essential  prerequisite 
has  been  attended  to  by  the  congregations  which  accredit  them  to  your 
body.  If  the  congregations  have  been  imposed  upon,  and  the  Annual  Meet- 
ing wishes  to  protect  its  own  honor,  it  should  do  so  in  a  collective  capacity, 
and  not  by  the  bare  fraction  of  a  committee.  We  therefore  construe  our 
just  powers  to  be  limited  solely  to  the  examination  of  candidates  upon  the 
truths  of  Holy  Writ.  As  we  stated  before,  several  brethren  of  undoubted 
worth  for  whose  capacity  and  probity  members  of  the  committee  were  will- 
ing to  vouch,  have  been  passed  without  examination.  This  is  not  intended 
as  a  precedent  for  future  irregular  action,  but  as  a  matter  of  justice  to 
parties  who  would  be  aggrieved  by  the  operation  of  a  rule,  with  whose  re- 
quirements they  cannot  comply  of  necessity. 

As  might  be  supposed  this  was  certain  to  create  unfavorable 
reaction  among  some  conservatives.  In  the  Kinston  convention, 
of  1872,  there  were  only  three  who  actually  voted  against  the 
adoption  of  the  report.  They  were  Augustus  Latham,  Jr.,  J.  R. 
Robinson,  and  Winfield  Muse.  Robinson  explained  his  vote  by 
saying  that  he  saw  in  the  measure  no  provision  for  any  worthy 
candidate  who  might  be  unavoidably  kept  from  attendance  at 
the  Annual  State  Meeting.  Latham  proceeded  to  stir  up  a  re- 
volt to  the  plan  in  the  First  District  embracing  the  area  now 
known  as  Roanoke  District.  He  had  a  lengthy  controversy 
about  it  with  Dr.  Walsh  in  the  Watch  Tower.  Latham  said:4 
"I  have  labored  faithfully  against  that  order  of  last  conference 
and  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  it  is  an  unpopular  thing  here 
and  elsewhere :  the  churches  down  here,  I  think,  will  not  regard 
it  at  all. ' '  In  defense  of  the  plan  Walsh  said  :5  ' '  In  the  estima- 
tion of  old,  wise  and  experienced  brethren  among  us  it  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  best  things  we  have  done."  A  "Sub- 
scriber" from  Craven  County  warmly  congratulated  the  Dis- 
ciples that  they  had  at  last  taken  a  stand  for  "an  educated 
ministry."6  Latham  said  he  was  not  opposed  to  education,  but 
did  not  think  it  his  "duty  to  learn  to  take  an  ipse  dixit  from 
any  uninspired  person."7  He  added:  "Humility  does  adorn  a 
preacher,  but  abject  servile  submission  to  the  decrees  of  any 
body  of  men  does  not.  We  have  enjoyed  the  freedom  that  is  in 
Christ  too  long  for  that."  Walsh  answered  with  a  scriptural 
argument  in  favor  of  the  plan.  Latham  headed  his  final  article 
' '  The  Convention  and  Church  Independence. '  '8  He  argued  that 
the  Convention  was  arbitrary,  assuming  a  function  belonging 
only  to  the  local  Church.    Walsh  replied  :9 


THE   MINISTRY — ITS   ORDER  181 

The  doctrine  of  absolute  Church  independence  is  not  in  the  word  of  God, 
nor  is  it  held  by  the  Disciples  generally.  There  are  a  few  like  Bro.  Lips- 
comb, whom  Bro.  Latham  quotes  approvingly,  that  hold  this  view;  but 
Brethren  Campbell,  Dunn,  and  Battle  did  not.  The  Church  of  the  Living 
God  is  one — not  many.  It  is  one  Sheep-fold,  one  Temple,  one  House,  one 
Body.  It  is  compared  to,  and  illustrated  by  the  human  body.  All  the 
members — the  hands,  feet,  eyes,  nose,  and  ears — are  all  parts  of  one  body. 
In  one  sense  they  are  independent  and  in  another  they  are  dependent  parts 
of  one  whole.  *  *  *  We  do  not  claim  for  Conventions  that  they  always 
do  right,  but  we  do  say  that  local  congregations  err  and  do  wrong,  just  as 
often,  and  we  think  more  frequently. 

Latham's  revolt  was  effective  with  most  of  the  Churches  in 
the  First  District.  In  their  Union  Meeting  at  Old  Ford  all  of 
the  Churches  of  the  District  were  lined  up  with  Latham  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  Convention  plan  except  Oak  Grove,  Mt.  Pleasant, 
Macedonia  and  Old  Ford.  J.  R.  Robinson  said  of  this  meeting  :10 
"I  was  present  and  there  told  the  brethren  to  act  with  discre- 
tion, prudence  and  moderation,  for  I  regarded  it  as  a  matter 
that  needed  not  to  be  troubled."  With  his  counsel  they  drafted 
"a  memorial  expressive  of  the  sentiment  of  the  Union  Meeting" 
to  be  laid  before  the  next  Annual  Meeting  at  Hookerton  in  1873. 
Robinson  said:  "The  Annual  Meeting  did  consider  our  Mem- 
orial and  change  the  thing."  The  same  Committee  which  had 
reported  the  measure  of  1872  presented  the  following  resolution 
in  1873  at  the  Disciples'  Annual  Meeting: 

Resolved,  As  the  sentiment  of  this  Convention,  that  while  we  acknowledge 
the  prerogative  of  the  local  congregations  to  seek  out  and  train  men  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  that  nevertheless,  according  to  the  teachings  of 
the  New  Testament,  no  Christian  congregation  has  any  right  to  set  apart 
or  ordain  anyone  to  the  work  of  the  Gospel  Ministry,  unless  he  has  been 
first  "proved"  or  examined  by  am  Evangelist,  or  a  competent  Presbytery, 
touching  his  knowledge  of  the  Gospel,  and  his  moral  character  or  Christian 
faithfulness:  and  that  when  the  name  of  any  new  preacher  is  sent  up  to 
be  enrolled  on  the  list  of  preachers,  the  congregation  of  which  he  is  a  mem- 
ber shall  certify  to  this  fact  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Convention,  and 
signed  by  all  of  the  officers  of  the  church.  Elders  and  Deacons,  and  the 
Evangelist  who  examined  and  ordained  him.  And  furthermore,  That  when 
anyone,  claiming  to  be  a  Minister,  and  coming  to  the  Church  of  Christ  from 
any  of  the  sects,  shall  propose  to  unite  with  us,  he  shall  first  unite  with 
some  one  of  our  local  congregations,  and  if  he  has  not  been  previously 
ordained,  or  if  his  ordination  is  not  satisfactory,  he  shall  in  like  manner 
be  examined  and  ordained  and  in  like  manner  come  recommended  to  our 
Convention.  For  proof  see  the  following  Scriptures:  2nd  Tim.  11:2.  1st 
Tim.  111:2.  Titus  1:9.  2nd  Tim.  1:13.  1st  Tim.  111:10.  Titus  1:5,  and 
11:7,  8. 


182  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

As  soon  as  this  resolution  came  from  the  press  it  stirred  up  the 
violent  opposition  of  the  Gospel  Advocate  in  Nashville,  Tennes- 
see.   David  Lipscomb,  the  editor,  said  i11 

The  North  Carolina  convention  assumes  the  right  to  keep  a  list  of  evan- 
gelists of  the  State,  prescribe  the  qualifications  of  the  evangelist  and  exam- 
ine him  and  pronounce  his  fitness  for  the  work.  It  is  a  gracious  favor 
toward  the  churches,  that  the  convention  admits  their  right  to  seek  out  and 
train  men  for  the  ministry,  but  they  cannot  be  accepted  unless  by  the  will 
of  the  convention.  In  order  that  they  may  be  able  to  control  this  matter 
fully,  they  require  that  the  name  shall  be  sent  up  to  them  for  enrollment, 
and  that  the  elders  of  the  churches  shall  certify  that  their  rule  has  been  com- 
plied with,  and  shall  give  the  name  of  the  evangelist  who  examined  and 
ordained  him.  Then  no  man  can  preach  Christ  in  North  Carolina,  no  church 
can  send  a  man  out  to  preach  Christ  unless  first  some  one  of  the  ordained 
clergy,  examine,  ordain,  and  recommend,  and  this  Sanhedrin  of  clergy 
approve. 

Tell  us,  will  you,  where  a  kingdom  of  the  clergy  can  be  found,  if  not 
here? 

Walsh  asserted  that  this  was  a  misrepresentation,  since  the 
service  of  a  delegate  Convention  was  the  "representative  ac- 
tion" of  the  Churches  themselves.  As  to  Lipscomb's  accusation 
of  the  restriction  of  ordination  to  the  "Sanhedrin  of  Clergy," 
Walsh  said:12 

So  far  from  this  being  correct,  we  hold  that  every  disciple  has  a  right 
to  preach,  to  warn,  and  exhort  his  fellow  men,  if  he  conceives  it  his  duty 
to  do  it;  but  whether  the  Churches,  or  the  Convention,  representing  them, 
will  endorse  and  bid  every  such  man  ' '  God  speed, ' '  without  regard  to  his 
qualifications,  mental  and  moral,  is  quite  another  matter.  *  *  *  Every 
Christian  Congregation  in  North  Carolina  has,  or  may  have,  a  voice  in  their 
Convention.  We  do  not  call  them  "Consultation  Meetings,"  as  you  do; 
but  there  is  nothing  clerical  in  our  Convention.  It  is  not  a  legislative  body, 
but  seeks  by  wise  counsel,  and  sober  consultation  to  advance  the  cause  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  *  *  *  North  Carolina  in  some  respects,  is  behind 
her  sister  States,  but  in  others  she  is  in  advance  of  them;  and  in  nothing 
perhaps,  does  she  so  signally  excel  as  in  the  systematic  and  Scriptural  man- 
ner in  which  her  religious  meetings  are   conducted. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  this  agitation  of  Walsh  and 
his  colleagues  for  an  effective  ministry  eventually  won  universal 
support  of  Disciples  in  the  State.  Augustus  Latham,  Jr.,  who 
had  stiffly  opposed  the  idea,  himself  offered  a  resolution  in  the 
Convention  of  1893  and  had  it  adopted.  It  was  as  follows: 
"Resolved,  That  no  one  coming  among  us  and  claiming  to  be  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel  shall  be  recognized,  aided,  countenanced, 


THE    MINISTRY — ITS   ORDER  183 

counseled,  or  comforted  as  such  by  any  member  of  this  Conven- 
tion, except  such  an  one  shall  have  produced  good  and  properly 
authenticated  evidences  that  he  is  in  good  standing,  and  of  good 
report." 

In  the  Convention  of  1876  C.  W.  Howard  offered  a  resolution 
which  provided  for  a  committee  on  Ministerial  Character  com- 
posed of  five  laymen.  It  was  thought  their  character  as  laymen 
would  qualify  them  for  effectiveness  in  such  a  difficult  function. 
The  first  to  serve  in  this  capacity  were  James  W.  Draughan, 
Isaac  Brown,  Simon  E.  Hodges,  Josiah  Dixon  and  Levi  Jack- 
son, Jr.  From  1876  this  service  has  been  extended  through  the 
years  and  since  1919  it  has  been  through  a  Standing  Committee. 
This  is  available  any  day  of  the  year  as  required,  and  upon  the 
call  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Con- 
vention. 

Among  Disciples  of  Christ  in  America,  North  Carolina  stands 
altogether  unique  in  this  supervision  of  her  ministry  by  her 
Convention.  In  their  democracy  North  Carolina  Disciples  are 
unquestionably  a  true  cross-section  of  their  American  brother- 
hood. In  their  modern  State  Conventions  experienced  observers 
from  outside  commend  warmly  the  evident  harmony  and  effec- 
tiveness of  the  meetings.  Yet  on  the  outside  there  has  been  some 
misunderstanding  of  the  Articles  of  their  Constitution  relating 
to  their  ministry.13  These  were  adopted  in  1893  and  are  as 
follows : 

Article  XIII.  All  who  contemplate  entering  the  ministry,  and  becoming 
members  of  the  North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Convention,  shall  be 
examined  by  a  Committee  of  five  on  examination  for  ordination,  appointed 
by  the  President  of  the  Convention,  and  duly  ordained  by  said  Convention. 

Article  XIV.  Any  church,  minister,  or  member  of  any  organization, 
taking  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Convention,  shall  be  subject  to  the 
authority  of  the  Convention ;  and  any  congregation  or  individual  member 
who  will  not  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  Convention  shall  be  considered 
disorderly. 

An  editorial  in  the  Christian  Guide,  Louisville,  Kentucky, 
John  T.  Brown,  editor,  quoted  these  Articles  in  its  issue  of 
March  17,  1899,  and  said  they  were  "nothing  more  nor  less  than 
ecclesiasticism."  He  continued:  "In  the  spirit  of  Christ  let  us 
condemn  all  such  proceedings,  not  the  motive  which  prompted 
them,  but  the  departure  from  God's  word.  "We  have  won  all  our 
victories  along  this  line,  and  for  us  to  indorse  the  proceedings 


18-1  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

of  the  North  Carolina  Convention,  would  be  to  give  up  the 
ground  for  which  we  have  so  long  fought,  and  upon  which,  as  a 
people,  we  stand  or  fall."  He  further  contended:  "No  conven- 
tion or  body  of  men  outside  of  the  local  congregation  has  a  right 
to  ordain  ministers.  The  congregation  may  call  in  help,  but  the 
convention  cannot  ordain  a  minister.  There  is  no  law  in  the 
New  Testament  that  gives  a  Convention  the  right  to  ordain  a 
minister  or  to  discipline  a  minister  or  any  other  member  of  the 
church.  The  government  of  the  local  congregation  is  the  highest 
church  government  known  in  the  New  Testament." 

John  J.  Harper  answered  this  by  pointing  out  that  in  the 
North  Carolina  practice  the  local  church  always  must  take  the 
initiative  in  leading  the  candidate  to  ordination,  and  must  stand 
by  him  all  the  way  through ;  that  the  convention  is  but  a  demo- 
cratic advisory  body,  and,  by  its  delegate  character  is  a  kind  of 
sublimated  servant  of  the  whole  church  within  its  bounds.  As 
to  the  scriptural  warrant  for  this,  Dr.  Walsh  had  long  before 
pointed  it  out  acceptably.  Harper  concluded:  "These  rules 
were  established  for  good  and  sufficient  reasons,  and  they  have 
had  the  effect  of  saving  us  many  times  from  gross  imposition  by 
tramp  preachers  from  other  States.  *  *  *  Our  organization 
has  been  to  us  a  great  breakwater  and  means  of  protection,  and 
has  done  much  to  develop,  elevate,  and  render  efficient  our  min- 
istry; so  much  so  that  it  will  compare  favorably  with  the  min- 
istry in  other  States." 

Notes 

^Fifteen  page  Pamphlet  in  Carolina  Collections,  University  of  North 
Carolina,  bound  in  a  volume  entitled  "Sermons,"  Card  Catalogue,  C252S4S. 
2From  letter  in  Collection  of  Mrs.  J.  C.  Eagles,  Wilson,  N.  C.  3Minutes, 
1S72.  4Watch  Tower,  June,  1873,  page  270.  5Ibid.,  page  271.  sIbicL,  July. 
1873,  pages  283,  284.  7Ibid.,  Sept.,  1873,  pages  347-349.  sIbid.,  April,  1874, 
pages  241-243.  "Ibid.,  pages  250,  251.  10Ibid.,  May,  1874,  pages  300-302. 
"Ibid.,  Jan.,  1874,  page  127.  ^Ibid.,  pages  128,  129.  uOtev-Brinev  Debate. 
pages   184-190;    195-197;   2-02,    207,   216,    221,   225 


Chapter  XX 

THE  MINISTRY— ITS  SUPPORT 

The  Disciples  have  always  needed  a  ministry  whose  time  and 
strength  should  be  consecrated  wholly  to  the  building  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  In  North  Carolina  this  demand  was  not  ap- 
preciably supplied  for  decades.  Almost  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Movement  in  this  State  one  of  their  strongest  personalities  spoke 
boldly  and  clearly  on  this  issue.  Their  Convention  of  1846  met 
on  Swift  Creek  in  Craven  County.  John  P.  Dunn  according 
to  appointment  wrote  the  Circular  Letter.  It  was  based  upon 
I  Corinthians  9  :14:  "Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained  that  they 
which  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the  Gospel."  It  was  one 
of  the  best  of  the  Disciples'  early  papers.  He  was  aware  that 
some  would  disagree  with  his  stand  on  the  support  of  the  min- 
istry. He  rejoiced,  however,  that  he  addressed  a  group  who  had 
avowed  their  reliance  upon  ' '  divinely  appointed  means. ' '  From 
that  vantage  point  he  urged  with  special  power  that  his  fellow- 
Disciples  should  practice  what  they  preached.  He  was  also  free 
from  any  self-interest  in  this  exhortation,  since  he  had  the  per- 
sonal resources  of  a  large  estate. 

He  said:1 

The  duty  of  supporting  the  Gospel  ministry  is  apparent,  both  from  rea- 
son and  the  Scriptures.  If  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Minister  of  the  Gospel  to 
give  himself  wholly  to  the  work,  it  is  evident  that  he  cannot  derive  his 
support  from  his  own  efforts  in  pecuniary  matters.  That  he  must  have 
food  and  raiment  for  himself  and  his  family,  if  he  has  one,  is  equally  clear. 
That  the  preacher  of  the  Gospel  has  been  doomed  by  his  Master  to  a  mere 
pittance  for  life,  while  the  education  of  his  children,  and  the  necessary 
provision  for  his  family  are  neglected,  no  rational  man  can  believe.  Who 
then  is  bound  to  support  the  minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  enable  him  to  do 
justice  to  his  family?  Reason  answers — the  government  that  employs  him 
as  its  minister — the  Church  of  Christ.  *  *  *  Many  pious  young  men, 
with  the  requisite  gifts  and  qualifications  for  preaching  and  teaching,  are 
now  confined  to  some  honest  avocation,  for  the  support  of  themselves  and 
families.  They  are  not  able  to  devote  themselves  to  the  ministry  of  the 
Word,  without  pecuniary  aid.  Most  of  our  preaching  brethren  are  past, 
are  on,  or  near  the  meridian  of  life,  and  cannot  be  expected,  in  the  common 
course  of  human  events  to  continue  much  longer  in  the  Gospel  field. 

185 


186  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

Beloved  Brethren,  what  shall  be  done  in  this  matter!  Shall  the  cause 
which  we  love  so  much,  languish  and  pine  away  among  us  for  want  of  our 
pecuniary  aid?  "We  trust  it  shall  not.  We  hope  that  our  hearts  and  purses 
shall  be  freely  opened,  and  our  hands  will  liberally  contribute  to  sustain  a 
faithful  Gospel  Ministry.  We  are  so  much  bound  by  the  law  of  Christ,  to 
pay  this  debt,  as  we  are  by  the  laws  of  North  Carolina  to  pay  taxes  for  the 
support  of  government.  If  this  be  not  so  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament 
have  misguided  us  on  this  subject. 

We  found  no  record  among  Disciples  of  North  Carolina  of 
any  stated  amount  paid  by  any  church  to  her  minister  in  the 
first  decade.  Tradition  had  it  that  the  first  minister  paid  a 
regular  definite  amount  was  John  Dupree  of  Mill  Creek.2  His 
salary  was  twelve  dollars  per  year.  His  name  first  appeared  on 
the  Minutes  of  1848. 

In  1855  Dr.  R.  Hooker  of  the  Hookerton  Church  wrote  to  The 
Christian  Friend,  edited  by  Dr.  Walsh,  that  there  was  "a  Crisis 
with  the  Reformation."3  He  declared  this  was  because  the  min- 
istry was  not  duly  sustained.  He  put  it  in  vivid  language: 
"Honest  and  pure  hearted  preachers  in  all  ages  have  resembled 
the  Camels  of  Arabia,  which,  while  they  carry  spices  and  jewels 
to  others  feed  on  shrubs  and  thistles."  This  stirred  James  A. 
Butler  of  Okolona,  Mississippi,  a  staff  contributor  of  The  Chris- 
tian Friend  to  write  of  another  side  of  the  problem.     He  said  :4 

Churches  are  seldom  on  the  gospel  line  as  regards  the  support  of  their 
ministers.  Sometimes  the  salaries  are  beyond  the  learning  and  abilities  of 
the  preacher,  and  in  this  harm  is  done.  A  preacher,  with  a  large  stipend, 
is  tempted  to  adopt  a  style  proportionate,  and  in  consequence  becomes  inac- 
cessible and  unprofitable  to  the  poor  of  his  flock,  who  are  the  numerous  and 
better  part  of  it.  *  *  *  There  is  a  place  somewhere  between  the  palace 
and  the  alms-house,  where  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  ought  to  reside. 

If  our  zeal  depends  for  its  pulsations  upon  the  jewels  and  bracelets  of 
a  brother  or  sister,  or  our  own,  then,  sir,  our  crown  will  dim !  ' '  Ichabod ' ' 
will  be  written.  We  had  better  go  to  heaven  in  rags,  than  to  hell  in 
embroidery.  *  *  *  We  must  establish  high  schools  for  the  training  of 
our  youth,  under  the  tutelage  of  competent  and  God-fearing  men.  Then 
we  can  send  men  into  the  vineyard  who  can  so  speak  as  to  make  attention 
hang  upon  their  sentences  and  conviction  close  their  periods;  men  who  can 
hold  their  audiences  in  willing  captivity  by  facts  and  arguments;  men  who 
will  not   ' '  bow  the  supple  knee  that  thrift  may  follow  flawing. ' ' 

As  the  War  Between  the  States  approached,  living  expenses 
increased.  Writing  in  October,  1855,  Dr.  Walsh  then  located  at 
Kinston,  confessed  and  exhorted  as  follows : 


THE    MINISTRY ITS    SUPPORT  187 

Provisions  have  been  so  high  during  the  current  year,  our  income  for 
preaching  will  hardly  meet  our  expenses.  At  the  present  rate  for  living, 
the    salaries    of    preachers    should    be    doubled;    otherwise   they   must    fall  ^ 

behind-hand,  or  be  forced  from  the  field  to  some  other  more  profitable  ,-- 
employment.  What  is  the  reason  that  professed  DissifJa?;-  ■'^^^M^ifi 
North  Carolina  are  behind  all  other  denominations  in  this  respect?  There 
are  some  liberal  brethren;  but  where  is  the  brother  who  gives  in  proportion 
to  his  means?  Where  is  the  brother  who  gives  to  the  Lord  as  much  as  he 
does  to  the  state?  I  know  some  wealthy  brethren,  who,  if  they  give  $10 
or  $15,  think  that  they  have  done  wonders.     They  should  blush. 

In  December,  1857,  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Hughart  who  had  located  at 
Wilson  wrote  a  "Discourse,"  on  "Support  of  the  Gospel  Min- 
istry," which  ran  in  some  issues  of  the  Disciples'  Advocate,  the 
state  paper  edited  by  Dr.  Walsh.  In  an  introductory  word  to 
this  the  editor  said:5  "We  suppose  the  covetous  will  not  relish 
it  very  well,  but  those  who  love  God  more  than  gold  will,  we 
trust,  appreciate  their  obligations  in  the  matter  of  sustaining  the 
Gospel.  We  know  by  experience  that  Churches  are  often  slow 
to  promise,  slower  to  pay,  and  slowest  of  all  to  pay  all  they 
pledge."  The  next  Summer  Dr.  Hughart  submitted  an  article 
on  "The  Divine  Eule  for  raising  funds  to  support  the  Gospel 
Ministry."  This  came  in  response  to  a  request  from  a  generous 
subscriber.  The  editor  commented  on  it,  out  of  his  experience 
as  follows:6 

It  is  difficult  for  rich  men  to  realize  the  wants  of  those  who  are  poor, 
and  as  a  majority  of  the  preachers  belong  to  this  class,  they  very  often  fail 
to  have  the  sympathies  of  their  rich  brethren.  They  do  not  know  what  it  is 
to  want  for  anything,  and  they  can  scarcely  realize  how  any  one  else  can. 
They  never  stop  to  inquire  whether  their  preacher  is  in  want  of  anything! 
They  never  voluntarily  offer  anything  for  his  support,  but  wait  to  be  so- 
licited to  give  something;  and  then,  after  it  is  subscribed,  they  wait  to  be 
called  on  for  it;  and  hence  it  very  often  remains  unpaid  till  the  end  of  the 
year,  and,  in  the  meantime,  the  preacher  has  been  paying  interest  on  what 
he  owes! 

About  this  time  Amos  J.  Battle  came  to  the  ministry  of  the 
Disciples.  He  was  proprietor  of  the  first  hotel  in  Wilson.  In 
the  main  his  life  was  consecrated  to  an  unselfish  intensive  min- 
istry of  the  Gospel.  His  son,  Jesse  Mercer  Battle,  gave  some 
intimate  and  graphic  remarks.    He  said  of  his  father:7 

His  whole  life  was  devoted  to  deeds  of  charity.  No  one  ever  came  to 
him  and  asked  for  help  and  was  turned  away  without  it.  All  that  asked 
him  for  help  got  it.  all  that  wanted  to  borrow  of  him,  obtained   the  loan, 


188  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

even  without  security.  His  money,  his  lauds,  his  negroes,  his  stocks,  his 
bouds,  his  personal  property  of  every  description  went  as  his  free-will  offer- 
ing to  the  Church  as  a  whole,  and  to  anyone  of  its  members  individually, 
. or  to+h^^wlio^were  not  members.  He  just  could  not  refuse  to  do  what  he 
wa^asKeciToJa(SV  I  have  known  him  to  go  away  from  home,  well  dressed, 
with  a  good  horse  and  buggy,  and  have  seen  him  come  home  in  less  than  a 
month  looking  like  a  beggar,  dressed  in  the  commonest  kind  of  clothing, 
and  bringing  an  old  worn-out  saddle  on  his  back.  He  had  given  away  his 
clothing  and  bought  somebody's  old  cast-off  clothing.  He  had  sold  his 
horse  and  buggy  and  given  the  money  to  build  a  church  in  a  section  of  the 
state  where  there  was  none,  and  had  bought  the  old  saddle  for  a  very  small 
price  and  borrowed  a  horse  to  do  his  missionary  work  with;  and  when  his 
journey  was  finished,  he  had  returned  the  horse  and  brought  the  old  saddle 
home  on  his  back  to  use  at  some  future  time. 

In  1859,  a  querist  with  the  signature,  "A  Preacher,"  asked 
Dr.  Walsh,  through  his  Christian  Baptist,  the  following  ques- 
tion :8 

"Is  it  right  for  those  preachers  who  are  wealthy,  or  able  to 
live  on  their  own  means  independently,  to  accept  the  care  of 
churches,  or  preach  generally  without  any  remuneration,  when 
the  churches  are  able  to  pay?" 

The  editorial  reply  was  an  emphatic  "No."    Dr.  Walsh  said: 

It  is  not  right  for  any  preacher  to  accept  the  care  of  a  church,  without 
any  remuneration,  when  such  church  is  able  to  pay.  If  such  preacher  is 
wealthy,  or  can  live  independently  on  his  own  means,  and  does  not  need 
what  the  church  is  able  and  willing  to  pay  him,  he  should  nevertheless 
receive  it,  and  appropriate  it  to  benevolent  objects.  Not  to  receive  it  en- 
courages the  church  to  do  nothing,  and  so  long  as  they  can  secure  the 
services  of  a  preacher  for  nothing  they  withhold  from  the  cause  that  aid 
which  is  due  from  every  Christian  Church.  In  a  word,  this  plan  cultivates 
the  covetousness  of  the  brethren,  and  is  a  real  injury  to  all  the  parties  con- 
cerned. *  *  *  In  all  love  and  kindness  we  are  compelled  to  say  that 
this  very  plan  has  seriously  injured  the  cause  with  us;  for  some  of  our 
good  and  able  brethren  have  preached  so  long  for  nothing,  that  the  churches 
have  well-nigh  come  to  the  conclusion  that  all  the  preachers  should  do  so! 

During  the  War  Between  the  States  the  service  of  the  minis- 
try was  increasingly  sporadic.  This  was  due  to  the  economic  as 
well  as  the  military  situation.  In  a  news  letter  to  the  Millen- 
nial Harbinger  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war,  John  J. 
Harper  spoke  of  the  "extreme  destitution"  of  his  people.  W. 
K.  Pendleton,  as  editor  of  the  Harbinger,  led  a  benevolent  move- 
ment, called  "Contributions  for  the  South."  For  North  Caro- 
lina Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh,  then  living  at  New  Bern,  served  by  Pen- 


THE    MINISTRY — ITS    SUPPORT  189 

diet  oil's  appointment  as  dispensing  agent  for  his  State  for  this 
fund. 

In  the  Summer  of  1870,  Joseph  H.  Foy  became  full-time  pas- 
tor at  Kinston.  He  was  the  first  Disciple  in  the  State  to  serve 
in  such  capacity.  His  salary  was  eight  hundred  dollars  per 
year.  He  did  not  continue  this  long  as  he  was  soon  engaged  in 
school  work  to  which  he  gave  so  much  of  his  life.  He  was  a 
gifted  man.  He  was  called  to  the  Central  Christian  Church, 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  where  he  located  in  March,  1878.  Dr.  Walsh 
expressed  regret  at  Foy's  leaving,  and  said:9  "The  Disciples  in 
North  Carolina  have  not  in  the  past,  nor  are  they  now  doing 
their  duty.  The  preachers  are  poorly  paid,  and  their  minds  are 
necessarily  burdened  with  the  cares  of  this  life ;  and  so  long  as 
this  is  the  case  the  probability  is  that  some,  if  not  the  majority, 
of  our  best  preachers  will  leave  the  State.  We  have  some  as 
good  preachers  as  they  have  anywhere,  but  not  one  among  them 
all  is  sustained  in  the  work." 

The  State  Evangelist  of  1873  resigned  after  a  few  months' 
service  for  lack  of  support.  A  contributor  to  the  Watch  Tower 
said  of  this:10 

Wherever  lie  labored  during  the  short  time,  he  gave  universal  satisfac- 
tion; and  it  was  conceded  if  he  continued,  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel 
would  have  been  wafted  triumphantly.  But  not  wishing  to  be  "  worse  than 
an  infidel"  he  has  discontinued  his  labors  and  gone  home  to  enjoy  the 
association  of  those  who  are  dear  to  him.  *  *  *  \ye  number  in  this 
state  over  4,000  Disciples  and  46  preachers;  not  one  of  them  giving  him- 
self "wholly"  to  the  work.  Every  one  that  wars  "entangles  himself  with 
the  affairs  of  this  life. ' '  Brethren  let  us  be  aroused  to  a  stronger  degree 
of  action ;  let  us  manifest  our  faith,  by  our  works.  Let  us  retain  the 
money  we  spend  for  circuses  and  ardent  spirits  and  place  it  in  the  Lord  's 
treasury,  and  there  will  be  no  occasion   for  our  Evangelist 's  resigning. 

Confronted  with  the  fact  that  the  Disciples'  support  of  the 
Evangelist  had  failed,  Dr.  Walsh  reacted  with  a  caustic  com- 
parison.   He  said:11 

Is  not  the  gospel  of  more  value  than  rabbits,  foxes,  and  deer?  Are  not 
the  preachers  of  more  worth  than  the  dogs? — And  yet  the  dogs  cost  more 
than  all  the  preachers  put  together  I  Poor  preachers!  Worthless  dogs! 
God  will  judge  your  relative  value.  But  in  this  world  the  dogs  stand 
higher,  are  better  cared  for,  and  consume  more  than  the  ministers  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ!  From  this  standpoint,  it  were  better  to  be  a  dog  than 
a  preacher!  What  a  pity  the  preachers  cannot  be  dogs  all  the  week,  and 
turn  preachers  on  the  Lord 's  Bay !     Then  they  would  all  be  sustained. 


190  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

A  minister  in  1874,  facing  the  current  financial  crisis,  in 
speaking  of  himself,  confessed:12  "G-od  is  our  witness  and  so  are 
all  the  Disciples  that  our  whole  public  life  has  been  one  of  self- 
abnegation.  We  have  ignored  our  pecuniary  interest  and  sought 
to  live  by  doing  good  to  others.  The  labors  of  the  mind  are  as 
onerous  as  those  of  the  body,  and  indeed  more  so ;  but  too  many 
think  they  amount  to  nothing,  and  hence  withhold  all  compen- 
sation. 

Foy  was  a  gifted  speaker  and  teacher  but  also  brilliant  as  a 
writer.  The  following  was  a  characteristic  passage  from  one  of 
his  appeals  in  the  ^Yatc1l  Tower:13 

I  venture  the  assertion,  that  but  for  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  of  our 
preachers,  many  of  whom  I  know  and  am  proud  to  call  my  friends,  the 
cause  today  in  North  Carolina,  puling  and  sickly  though  it  be,  would  be  in 
a  far  worse  condition.  I  am  in  a  condition  to  speak  boldly,  for  I  preach 
without  stipulated  compensation,  and  would  preach  whether  I  ever  received 
another  dollar  for  my  services,  so  long  as  I  feel  the  stirrings  of  an  impulse 
to  communicate  to  others  that  blessedness  which  I  have  myself  shared. 
Latham  is  teaching,  I  hear;  the  amiable  Harper  is  merchandizing; — "Wilson 
(tell  it  not  in  Gath)  is  blasting  rock!  A  man  of  power,  capable  of  measur- 
ing strength  with  giants,  but  oppressed  by  a  large  and  dependent  family, 
is  engaged  in  a  toilsome  calling,  honorable  indeed,  but  far  from  lucrative, 
and  surely  repugnant  to  one  of  intellectual  tastes  and  culture :  one  who 
continually  hears  the  inquiry  ringing  in  his  ears :  ' '  What  shall  I  do  with 
this  Jesus  V  *  *  *  Our  venerable  brother,  Walsh,  after  a  quarter  of  a 
century's  toil,  never  adequately  requited — in  his  old  age,  surrounded  by  a 
lovely  group — but,  alas!  a  dependent  group, — knows  what  it  is  to  eat  the 
bread  of  carefulness,  and  too  often,  I  fear,  to  moisten  it  with  his  tears. 
Bro.  Moye  was  seriously  injured  in  business,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  by 
his  burning  zeal,— until  he  was  forced,  to  abandon  measurably  his  efforts 
by  the  pressing  necessities  of  his  family.     *     *     * 

Paul 's  injunction  to  Timothy  was  to  give  himself  wholly  to  the  work — 
and  we  never  shall  secure  the  highest  order  of  ministry  until  '  •'  they  who 
preach  the  Gospel  shall  live  of  the  Gospel. ' '  Men  whose  time  is  divided 
and  whose  influence  is  crippled  by  worldly  complications,  can  never  throw 
themselves  into  the  current  with  that  resistless  vigor  which  should  charac- 
terize the  bearers  of  the  cross.  The  church  should  say,  ' '  Go  ye,  and  your 
families  shall  be  taken  care  of.  You,  yourself,  after  age  and  decrepitude 
have  fastened  upon  you,  shall  not  be  turned  out  to  pick  the  scant  gTass  of 
the  world's  cold  common,  like  a  disabled  and  worn-out  stage-horse,  but 
you  shall  then  be  tenderly  cared  for,  until  you  go  up  to  receive  your  reward 
from  the  Master 's  hand. ' ' 

This  distress  among  the  preachers  seems  to  have  been  uni- 
versal at  this  period.  Dr.  Walsh  had  a  letter  from  a  friend  in 
the  ministry  in  Missouri,  who  said:14  "This  is  the  hardest  time 


THE    MINISTRY ITS    SUPPORT  191 

on  fearless  preachers  of  the  word  that  I  have  ever  known. 
Satan's  strongest  dependence  to  crush  the  Primitive  Faith  is 
to  starve  the  Defenders  of  Truth  and  Righteousness — a  result 
that  is  now  being  reached."  Walsh  agreed  and  added:  "Cov- 
etousness  is  one  of  the  great  sins  of  this  time ;  and  if  the  devil 
can  starve  out  the  preachers,  and  so  silence  them  his  work  is 
done." 

As  a  matter  of  course  the  ministry  in  the  other  communions 
suffered  as  did  the  Disciples.  In  the  Spring  of  1883.  the  fol- 
lowing editorial  appeared  in  the  News  and  Observer:15 

"A  writer  in  the  Church  Messenger  calls  attention  to  the  fact 
that  there  are  quite  a  number  of  Episcopal  ministers  in  the 
State  of  North  Carolina  whose  average  pay  appears  to  be  $265. 
but  it  is  understood  that  the  average  pay  of  the  ministers  of  that 
denomination  in  the  State  is  less  than  the  pay  of  either  the  Pres- 
byterians or  the  Methodists.  How  can  a  man  who  has  to  provide 
for  a  family  on  $265,  be  satisfied  that  he  is  performing  his  duty 
to  his  family?" 

This  was  copied  in  the  ~\Yatch  Tower.  It  suggested  to  the 
editor,  J.  L.  Winfield,  to  state:  '"'The  salary  of  Disciple  minis- 
ters in  the  State  ranges  from  $100  to  $600 ;  only  two  ministers 
in  the  State  receive  $600  and  they  are  giving  their  time  and 
talent  nearly  exclusively  to  the  work.  We  publish  the  above 
item  to  let  our  Evangelists  know  that  while  they  are  receiving 
a  lean  support,  they  have  sympathizing  friends  in  other  com- 
munions who  are  sharing  the  hardships  of  life." 

A  conscience  was  slowly  developed  among  North  Carolina 
Disciples  for  taking  care  of  needy  aged  ministers  and  their  de- 
pendents. In  the  Wilson  Convention  of  1902,  the  following 
measure  was  adopted: 

Kesolved  1st.  That  the  President  appoint  a  committee  of  five  brothers, 
who  shall  be  called  a  committee  on  the  aged  and  needy  preachers  of  the 
gospel. 

2.  That  the  committee  shall  organize  by  electing  a  Chairman  and  Secre- 
tary, and  shall  meet  one  or  more  times  during  the  year,  if  deemed  necessary 
by  the  Chairman. 

3.  The  duties  of  said  committee  shall  be  to  ascertain  and  find  out  the 
condition  and  necessities  of  the  aged  preachers. 

■i.  That  each  and  every  congregation  of  Disciples  of  Christ  are  requested 
to  take  one  or  more  collections  for  said  purpose,  and  send  the  amount  to  the 


192  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Financial  Secretary,  who  shall  forward  25  per  cent  of  said  collection  to  the 
"National  Board  of  Ministerial  Relief,''  and  the  balance  to  be  paid  out 
as  recommended  by  the  committee. 

5.  That  the  pastors  of  the  various  churches  be  requested  to  preach  one 
or  more  sermons  urging  the  collection. 

6.  That  the  said  committee  shall  report  these  proceedings  to  the  next 
Convention. 

Appointed  to  serve  on  this  Committee  were :  P.  S.  Swain,  S. 
W.  Sumrell,  Fernando  Ward,  and  N.  D.  Myers.  They  reported 
in  the  1903  Convention  that  during  the  year  only  one  offering 
had  been  received,  that  of  $3.25  from  Albemarle  Church.  As 
an  independent  State  enterprise  it  had  been  given  a  feeble  start. 
Later  it  was  absorbed  by  the  National  Ministerial  Relief  of  the 
Disciples,  which  today  aids  substantially  many  dependents,  and 
is  to  be  adequately  enlarged  by  a  comprehensive  Pension  Sys- 
tem. 

The  Disciples  moved  slowly  but  surely  to  a  more  intensive 
ministry.  The  President  of  the  Belhaven  Convention  of  1907 
said  with  candor:16 

The  fact  that  we  have  more  than  150  vacant  pulpits  in  this  State  each 
Lord's  Day  in  the  year,  and  that  other  fact,  that  we  only  have  eight 
churches  in  the  State  able  to  employ  a  pastor  full  time  when  they  are  able 
to  secure  one  at  all,  should  certainly  cause  the  brotherhood  of  the  State  to 
sit  up  and  take  notice.  These  eight  churches  are  "Washington,  Wilson,  Kins- 
ton,  Asheville,  Winston-Salem,  Belhaven,  Greenville,  and  Wilmington.  Of 
these,  Washington  is  at  present  without  a  pastor.  Wilmington 's  pastor  is 
supported  entirely  by  the  State  Board  and  the  Pamlico  Union,  and  Asheville 
can  only  keep  a  man  when  aided  by  the  State.  This  is  certainly  a  deplor- 
able condition.  It  is  so  pathetic  indeed,  that  it  should  cause  every  one  who 
truly  loves  the  cause  to  rally  to  its  aid,  and  seek  to  swing  every  dollar  pos- 
sible  into   line. 

With  the  World  War  there  was  radical  increase  in  the  cost 
of  living.  So  much  so  that  in  the  Wilson  Convention  in  1917, 
it  was  resolved  that  "the  churches  wherever  possible  should  in- 
crease the  salaries  of  their  ministers,  and  that  the  State  Secre- 
tary should  advise  official  boards  of  Churches  that  this  hearty 
and  deliberate  suggestion  is  commended  to  their  serious  atten- 
tion." For  a  few  years  there  was  a  steady  large  increase,  and 
in  later  years  a  consistent  small  increase.  Within  ten  years  the 
average  annual  salary  of  the  entire  ministry  within  the  State 


Virgil  Angelo  Wilson,  1831-1905 


Peter  Edmund  Hines,  1812-1891 


THE    MINISTRY — ITS   SUPPORT  193 

had  been  increased  one  hundred  and  twenty  per  cent.  This 
large  gain  gives  North  Carolina  Disciples  a  favorable  status  in 
this  aspect  of  their  church  life,  as  compared  with  sister  States. 

Notes 

^Circular  letter,  Minutes.  1846.  2H.  Williams,  most  aged  member  of  Mill 
Creek  Church,  in  personal  interview  with  the  Author.  3Christian  Friend 
and  Bible  Unionist,  April,  1855,  page  331.  •'Ibid.,  pages  331,  332.  5Disciples' 
Advocate,  Dec,  1857,  page  84.  6Ibid.,  Aug.,  1858,  page  342.  '"Tributes  to 
my  Father  and  Mother  and  Some  Stories  of  My  Life,"  by  Jesse  Mercer  Bat- 
tle, pages  14,  15,.  8Christian  Baptist  (Walsh),  March,  1859,  page  87.  "Watch 
Tower,  April,  1878,  page  86.  10Ibid.,  June,  1873,  pages  263,  264.  "Ibid., 
Feb.,  1874,  page  172.  "Ibid.,  page  180.  "Ibid.,  pages  190,  191.  "Ibid.,  June, 
1878,    page  136.     ^Ibid.,    May   15,    1S83,    editorial   page.      "Minutes,    1907. 


Chapter  XXI 

PHASES  OF  STEWARDSHIP 

The  consecration  of  resources,  vital  and  material,  in  the  main- 
tenance of  Churches  of  Christ  was  at  once  the  gracious  oppor- 
tunity and  the  overshadowing  problem  of  the  Disciples.  The 
truth  which  they  had  would  get  nowhere  save  as  it  was  embodied 
in  genuine  personality.  Such  personality  always  demands  suit- 
able accessories  for  its  expression.  We  will  observe  phases  of 
development  of  this  as  we  find  it  in  the  thought  and  experience 
of  some  North  Carolina  leaders. 

Thomas  J.  Latham  gave  the  "Circular  Letter"  in  the  Conven- 
tion of  1847.  It  had  Acts  2:42  for  a  text.  He  spoke  of  the 
"Fellowship"  in  that  text  as  follows: 

By  the  term  fellowship,  in  this  place,  we  suppose  the  writer  to  mean  the 
joint  weekly  contributions  which  were  voluntarily  paid  into  the  treasury  of 
the  church,  for  the  purpose  of  providing  bread  and  wine;  of  ministering 
to  the  wants  and  necessities  of  the  aged  or  infirm,  poor  members  of  the 
church,  or  neighbors;  and  of  sustaining  evangelists  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
the  world.  The  duty  is  too  generally  neglected  by  the  churches  in  our 
state.  Let  us  endeavor  to  reform  in  this  particular;  recollecting  that  it  is 
on  this  very  subject  the  Apostle  Paul  says  "God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver." 
In  passing  permit  us  to  suggest  that  every  church  should  try  to  contribute 
as  soon  as  possible,  enough  to  build  a  suitable  house  of  worship  to  be  open 
to  them  on  every  Lord's  Day.  Then  they  will  have  it  in  their  power  to 
attend  weekly  to  their  religious  duties  and  privileges,  without  transgressing 
on  the  rights  of  others. 

At  this  period  "free  meeting  houses"  were  almost  universal 
in  the  communities  of  the  Disciples.  Such  houses  of  worship 
were  built  by  the  community  at  large  to  be  used  on  a  schedule 
of  comity  by  the  participating  religious  groups.  By  sufferance 
of  the  community  any  given  house  ordinarily  could  be  used  by 
the  preacher  of  any  faith.  The  Disciples  had  to  develop  as  a 
separate  people.  It  was  obvious  that  they  must  have  their  own 
property.  Dr.  Walsh  pointed  this  out,1  He  gave  thirteen  rea- 
sons, and  elaborated  on  each,  why  he  was  opposed  to  the  "free" 
houses.  He  said  that  as  a  rule  they  were  not  properly  built  and 
maintained.     Thus,  "a   stranger  passing  through  the  country 

194 


PHASES    OF    STEWARDSHIP  195 

would  at  once  conclude  that  the  people  took  but  little  interest  in 
religion  if  that  interest  is  to  be  measured  by  the  barn-like,  de- 
cayed and  dilapidated  houses  in  which  they  profess  to  worship." 
Furthermore  he  asserted:  "All  sorts  of  men  are  allowed  to 
preach  all  sorts  of  doctrine  in  them,  and  consequently  they  are 
built  as  much  for  the  devil  as  they  are  for  God. ' '    Again : 

Some  of  our  own  churches  in  this  State  have  died  out;  did  they  not  all 
meet  in  free  houses?  I  do  not  say  this  is  the  only  cause  of  spiritual  death 
in  churches,  but  I  do  say  it  is  one.  *  *  *  It  is  the  duty  of  Christians 
to  meet  every  Lord's  Day  to  commemorate  the  Lord's  death  and  resurrec- 
tion; to  unite  in  prayer  and  praise,  and  in  teaching  one  another.  This 
they  cannot  do  in  a  free  house.  *  *  *  Let  the  Disciples  build  houses 
of  their  own  and  thus  give  scope  for  their  liberality  and  extend  the  bounds 
of  their  usefulness. 

He  called  attention  to  the  general  lack  of  heating  equipment 
making  winter  services  dangerous  if  not  impracticable.  There 
must  be  safety  and  comfort;  "an  easy  position  is  essential  to 
profitable  hearing." 

He  exhorted  in  conclusion:  "Let  those  who  are  able  to  build 
go  to  work  at  once  and  erect  such  buildings  as  will  reflect  honor 
upon  themselves  and  the  cause  they  have  espoused.  *  *  * 
Your  owning  the  house  will  not  prevent  you  from  extending  to 
other  denominations  that  courtesy  which  is  due  from  one  to 
another.  The  free  meeting  house  system  leaves  no  scope  for  the 
exercise  of  courtesy!  For  what  belongs  to  all  is  granted  as  a 
matter  of  courtesy  to  none!" 

("At  this  time  (1858)  Hookerton  Disciples  erected  their  own 
building  which  is  in  use  today.  With  its  "slave  balcony,"  it 
was  the  best  structure  the  Disciples  of  the  State  had  in  that 
period.  Slow  but  steady  progress  was  made  in  Disciple  archi- 
tecture through  the  first  decades.  In  1908  their  church  prop- 
erty holdings  aggregated  in  value  but  little  over  a  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  Nineteen  years  later  it  was  little  short  of 
two  millions.  \ 

At  the  time  the  Disciples  were  beginning  in  North  Carolina 
the  American  Bible  Society  was  an  active  and  powerful  inter- 
denominational agency.  Disciples  of  the  State  generously  re- 
sponded to  this,  giving  about  two  thousand  dollars  to  the  cause. 
This  was  very  creditable.     In  the  Convention  of  1849  Thomas 


196  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

J.  Latham  introduced  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
adopted : 

' '  1.  Resolved,  that  we  hail  the  formation  of  the  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  as  the  harbinger  of  a  bright  and  glorious 
day;  and  recommend  its  interests  to  the  support  of  our  breth- 
ren. ' ' 

John  P.  Dunn  wanted  the  Disciples  to  be  known  as  a  Mission- 
ary people  from  the  start.  In  his  "Circular  Letter"  of  1846 
he  strongly  urged  this  course  for  them.2  Three  years  later  he 
presented  a  resolution  to  this  effect.    It  was  adopted.    It  follows : 

"Resolved,  that  the  time  has  arrived  in  the  providence  of 
God,  when  it  becomes  the  duty  of  Christians  in  connection  with 
this  conference  to  arouse  themselves  to  the  blessed  work  of  ex- 
tending the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  among 
the  heathen  Nations." 

In  the  conference  of  1849,  John  B.  Gaylord  gave  the  circular 
letter.  He  also  stressed  the  Missionary  note  and  added:  "Let 
us  remember  that  God  will  hold  us  accountable  at  the  last  day 
for  the  means  which  He  has  given  us." 

Josephus  Latham  made  "Stewardship"  the  outstanding  mes- 
sage in  his  "Circular  Letter"  of  the  Conference  of  1852.  He 
suggested  that  if  each  Disciple  "lay  by"  five  cents  "in  store" 
on  each  "first  day  of  the  week"  they  would  raise  more  than  five 
thousand  dollars  per  annum.  He  said :  ' '  Think  how  many  evan- 
gelists and  teachers  might  be  employed  and  sustained  by  such 
an  amount,  and,  with  the  blessing  of  God  how  much  good  might 
be  accomplished!"  He  further  showed  that  if  each  Disciple 
would  give  four  cents  a  month  it  would  sustain  three  general 
evangelists. 

One  can  see  in  the  Disciple  press  of  that  day  the  growing  con- 
viction of  the  leaders  that  the  communion  to  survive  must  learn 
stewardship.  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Hughart  lived  in  Wilson  in  1858. 
During  that  year  he  wrote  a  series  of  articles  for  the  Disciples' 
Advocate  in  which  he  argued  for  tithing  as  a  Christian  practice. 
In  commending  this  Dr.  Walsh,  the  editor,  said:3 

If  Christians  are  to  "give  as  the  Lord  prospers  them,"  they  must  give 
by  some  rule;  and  if  one-tenth  is  not  that  rule,  pray  what  is  it?  No  one 
can  give  as  the  Lord  prospers  him  unless  he  give  a  certain  portion;  for, 
otherwise,  how  could  he  know  that  he  had  given  as  the  Lord  prospered  him? 
It  would  be,  in  that  case,  a  matter  of  mere  guessing!  The  truth  is,  many 
are  not  willing  to  give  as  the  Lord  prospers  them,  and  hence  they  oppose 


PHASES   OF    STEWARDSHIP  197 

"the  tenth  rule."  We  do  not  say  this  is  the  case  with  all  who  oppose  it, 
for,  we  doubt  not,  some  do  so  from  conscientious  convictions  that  the  prin- 
ciple is  not  established;  but  still  a  large  majority  oppose  it  for  the  reason 
previously  stated.  *  *  *  Covetousness  is  a  very  respectable  sin,  and  it 
is  now,  with  all  our  boasted  liberality,  the  curse  of  the  Church,  and  the 
bane  of  the  world.  The  tenth  rule,  in  our  opinion  is  the  very  principle  by 
which  to  test  the  heart  in  this  matter.  For  if  professing  Christians  will 
not  "give  as  the  Lord  prospers  them,"  it  is  evident  they  are  covetous  in 
heart,  and  never  can  enter  "into  the  kingdom  of  God."  And  the  Disciples 
may  rest  assured,  that,  if  they  do  not  wholly  go  back  to  original  ground  in 
the  advocacy  of  primitive  Christianity,  God  will  bring  them  to  naught,  and 
raise  up  a  people  that  will.  ' '  This  reformation, ' '  in  some  respects,  as 
certainly  needs  reforming  as  any  sect  in  Christendom. 

J.  DuVal  was  a  Disciple  minister  and  an  intimate  friend  of 
both  Hughart  and  Walsh.  He  took  a  broad  view  of  tithing. 
Writing  from  Petersburg,  Virginia,  on  February  22,  1858,  to 
Dr.  Walsh  he  said:4 

Religion  (I  mean  the  Christian  religion),  has  the  true  and  real  power  of 
transmutation  of  common  things  of  little  value,  into  religious  things  of 
unspeakable  value.  Christians  at  large,  have  hardly  taken  more  than  a 
very  limited  and  slight  glance  at  this  subject.  There  are  some  deep  and 
difficult  lessons  yet  to  be  received  by  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  not  only  on 
this,  but  on  many  other  subjects  of  Christian  duty.  *  *  *  An  annual 
contribution  of  one-tenth  part  of  the  income  of  the  present  number  of 
Disciples  in  the  United  States,  would  enable  the  Disciples  of  Christ  to  push 
redemption  with  unexampled  velocity  and  success,  not  only  here,  but  over 
all  the  desolations  of  sin  everywhere.  Permit  me  here  to  say,  that  I  know 
one  Disciple,  who  has  been  practising  this  "tenth"  principle,  for  many 
years,  and  finds  now  that  he  can  do  as  much  in  that  line,  if  not  more,  than 
he  did  at  the  beginning.  But  still,  that  same  Disciple,  has  not  been  satis- 
fied that  his  reasons  would  be  a  rule  for  others,  except  as  an  expediency. 
He  thought  it  a  reproach  that  the  slavish  Jew,  always  under  bondage,  with 
temporal,  rather  than  spiritual  limits  to  his  horizon,  should  do  more  for 
God  himself,  than  the  Christian,  made  free  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and 
ushered  into  princely  present  riches,  and  aspiring  by  hope  to  an  imperish- 
able inheritance,  and  called  to  the  high  and  holy  mission  of  a  co-work  with 
God  himself  in  saving  his  fellow  man.  *  *  *  Christians  ought  to  do 
more — they  are  able  to  do  far  more  than  they  now  do,  and  I  humbly  trust 
that  they  will  yet,  and  soon  see,  ere  the  night  of  life  is  spent,  that  neither 
themselves,  nor  their  property,  are,  strictly  speaking,  their  own. 

C.  A.  Sadler  was  a  Disciple  and  a  subscriber  to  the  Christian 
Baptist  of  Dr.  Walsh.  Writing  to  that  journal  he  observed:5 
"I  fear  as  a  church  we  lack  zeal  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  or  cling 
too  closely  to  our  money,  and  love  it  more  than  we  do  the  souls 


.198  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

of  our  fellow  travellers  to  eternity."     Remarking  on  this,  Dr. 
"Walsh  said:6 

"There  is  something  rotten  in  Denmark,''  brother  Sadler;  and  I,  for 
one,  am  neither  too  blind  to  see  it,  nor  too  denominational  to  confess  it 
and  point  it  out.  Some  of  our  people  are  only  half-converted,  if  that,  and, 
while  they  profess  to  give  their  hearts  to  the  Lord,  they  keep  back  every- 
thing else.  I  have  no  faith  in  such  Christianity,  as  this.  When  a  man  truly 
gives  his  heart  to  the  Lord  everything  else  goes  with  it.  He  gives  his  soul, 
body,  and  spirit,  with  all  that  he  has  to  the  Lord.  There  is  more  covetous- 
ness  among  us,  considering  our  numbers,  than  among  any  people  known  to 
me. 

Two  months  later  Dr.  Walsh  in  an  editorial  captioned,  ' '  What 
do  ye  more  than  others,"  amplified  this  statement  quoted  above.7 
He  concluded,  however,  by  giving  the  bright  side,  as  follows : 

Let  none  suppose  from  these  remarks  that  we  have  no  good,  and  zealous 
brethren.  Far  from  it!  And,  if  the  statement  did  not  appear  invidious, 
we  would  call  over  the  names  of  some,  who  compare  favorably  with  the 
brethren  anywhere.  And,  indeed,  we  have  strong  inclination  to  do  it,  even 
at  the  risk  of  being  thought  invidious.  Among  our  preachers,  then,  if  we 
had  a  few  more  Dunns,  Lathams,  Hines,  Aliens,  Dillahunts,  etc.,  etc.,  it 
would  be  so  much  the  better  for  our  cause.  And  among  the  brethren,  if 
we  had  a  few  hundred  Moves,  Mays,  Hodges,  Suttons,  Kennedys,  Harpers, 
Dixons,  Kinseys,  Browns,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  too  numerous  to  name  over,  our 
cause  would  begin  to  look  up. 

Dr.  Frank  W.  Dixon  came  before  the  Convention  of  1868  at 
Wheat  Swamp  with  an  earnest  plea  for  larger  giving.  He  en- 
forced that  plea  by  his  own  example.  This  is  notable  as  the 
first  large  individual  gift  to  the  Disciples'  co-operative  work. 
As  he  related  it  :8 

With  deep  mortification  I  witnessed  last  Conference,  that  in  trying  to 
raise  funds  for  Evangelizing,  we  had  to  apply  to  persons  not  members  of 
the  Church  to  help  make  up  the  small  sum  needed.  Now,  had  we  given  of 
our  last  year 's  crop,  one  acre,  each  of  us,  or  if  even  two-thirds  of  its  pro- 
ceeds had  been  brought  to  the  Conference,  how  much  good  we  might  have 
accomplished  thereby.  *  *  *  Now  I  humbly  offer  my  experience  for  the 
present  year,  as  an  encouragement  in  this  case.  During  the  past  Spring 
from  my  cultivation  of  about  thirty  acres,  I  marked  off  one  acre,  the  pro- 
ceeds of  which,  in  my  mind,  I  dedicated  to  the  Lord,  and  I  fully  determined 
He  should  have  every  cent  of  it.  So  I  worked  to  that  point,  manured  it 
well,  and  cultivated  it  just  as  I  did  the  rest  of  my  crop,  and  attended  care- 
fully to  the  gathering  of  that  acre  first,  and  God  blessed  me  with  a  ready 
sale  of  400  lbs.  of  lint  Cotton  gathered  therefrom  at  21  cents  per  lb., 
two-thirds  of  which    ($56)    I   send  to  this  Conference,   and  the  remaining 


PHASES    OF    STEWARDSHIP  199 

third  ($28)  I  retain  for  the  calls  incident  to  my  own  church.  Brethren, 
rather  than  offer  this  as  a  praiseworthy  act,  far  from  it,  I  only  humbly 
acknowledge  it  as  a  sense  of  duty  to  my  Master's  cause.  For  I  think  God 
has  blessed  me  in  my  efforts. 

It  is  some  decades  before  giving  on  this  scale  became  fre- 
quent among  Disciples.  It  should  be  remembered  that  it  re- 
quired almost  fifty  years  for  the  State  to  recover  from  the 
economic  disaster  of  the  War  Between  the  States  and  the  Recon- 
struction period  which  followed.  During  most  of  that  time,  "a 
dollar  looked  as  big  as  a  cart-wheel." 

In  the  Convention  of  1889  a  proposition  was  adopted  for  each 
church  to  collect  and  remit  twenty  cents  per  member  per  year 
for  sustaining  the  State  missionary  service.  With  the  prevalent 
congregational  independence  this  could  not  be  effected  on  a 
wide  scale.  Six  years  later  a  puerile  suggestion  was  accepted 
in  the  convention  at  Antioch  (Farmville).  As  recorded  in  the 
minutes:  ''It  was  moved  and  adopted  that  each  member  pay 
one  penny  for  every  year  he  is  old,  the  same  to  be  for  missions." 
Commenting  on  this  in  the  Watch  Tower,  December  1,  1895,  J. 
L.  Winfield,  the  editor,  said : 

We  have  brethren,  that  have  the  best  of  motives,  but  they  have  plans 
that  are  not  feasible.  They  border  on  what  we  call  child's  play.  For 
instance,  one  brother  moved  that  we  all  pay  one  penny  for  each  year  every 
member  of  the  family  is  old.  This  was  regarded  as  the  very  best  plan  to 
raise  means  to  evangelize  the  State.  It  died  with  the  convention  and  will 
not  be  heard  of  again  unless  it  is  resurrected  at  some  future  gathering. 
Such  plans  will  never  be  accepted  by  the  thoughtful  and  intelligent  mem- 
bers of  the  church. 

In  another  editorial  about  this  time  captioned,  "Things  That 
Are  Wanting, ' '  Winfield  made  this  sweeping  assertion :  ' '  The 
financial  system  of  all  the  churches  is  radically  wrong.  A  few 
in  all  the  congregations  are  bearing  the  burden  of  the  church. 
The  larger  number  are  drones  in  the  hive  and  are  not  doing  any- 
thing to  support  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  Every  mem- 
ber of  the  household  of  faith  should  either  give  to  the  Lord's 
cause  or  something  should  be  given  the  member  unable  to  give. ' ' 

This  was  forward  looking.  It  was  a  statement  of  a  need  which 
is  met  among  many  Disciples  today  by  the  "E very-member 
Canvass,"  and  the  annual  budget  adopted  in  approved  business 
method,  by  a  representative,  executive  group  in  the  given  church. 


200  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

North  Carolina  pioneered  in  the  beginning  of  a  Disciples' 
special  benevolent  work  in  the  Southeastern  States.  In  1901, 
Ira  E.  Cowling  was  employed  by  the  State  Mission  Board  to 
evangelize  in  the  North  Carolina  mountains.  He  came  from 
Pennsylvania.  He  had  been  trained  under  Ashley  Johnson  at 
Kimberlin  Heights,  Tennessee.  On  June  1,  1903,  he  started  to 
build  the  Christian  Orphans'  Home  and  School  at  Dew  Drop.9 
This  was  in  Madison  County  about  forty  miles  northwest  of 
Asheville,  eight  miles  from  Putnam,  the  railway  station.  A 
site  consisting  of  three  and  a  half  acres  was  given.  On  this  he 
erected,  from  his  own  funds,  a  cabin  home  costing  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  In  addition  seven  hundred  dollars  came  to 
him  in  personal  gifts  for  the  project.  He  announced  that  it  was 
"an  institution  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  North  Carolina  for 
the  benefit  of  white  orphans  and  children  of  destitute  condition 
in  the  western  North  Carolina  mountains. ' '  He  further  stated : 
' '  Its  aim  is  to  furnish  a  home  for  the  children  in  the  Home  or  in 
good  private  families.  Those  remaining  in  the  Home  will  re- 
ceive an  industrial  training  fitting  them  for  usefulness  in  life 
and  a  literary  education  equal  to  that  of  the  public  schools  of 
the  State." 

Dean  L.  Bond  was  the  first  Financial  Agent  for  this  benevo- 
lent work.  By  1907  over  three  thousand  dollars  had  been  re- 
ceived. In  the  Summer  of  that  year  Miss  Elizabeth  Tesh,  State 
Secretary  of  the  Christian  Woman's  Board  of  Missions,  visited 
the  institution.10  In  her  report  she  stated  they  had  but  one 
orphan.  A  school  of  elementary  grade  however  was  conducted 
with  forty  pupils.  The  teachers  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ira  E. 
Cowling  and  Miss  Shelton.  The  title  was  not  clear  for  all  of 
the  property.  They  owned  no  school  building  but  used  the 
Masonic  Hall. 

Later  J.  H.  Mohorter  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  Secretary  of  the 
National  Benevolent  Association  of  the  Christian  Church,  visited 
the  place.  The  remoteness  of  the  location  and  the  destitute 
facilities  for  conducting  either  an  effective  school  or  orphange 
impressed  Mohorter.  He  induced  Cowling  to  take  a  school  with 
a  prospective  orphanage  attached  at  Baldwin,  Georgia.  Out  of 
the  Baldwin,  Georgia,  venture  evolved  the  Southern  Christian 
Home  on  Cleburne  Avenue,  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  This  is  the 
orphanage  for  Disciples  in  the  Southeast.     Their  new  building 


PHASES   OF    STEWARDSHIP  201 

soon  to  be  completed  will  have  capacity  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  children. 

North  Carolina  Disciples  have  given  three  missionaries  to  the 
Foreign  Service.  They  have  each  gone  to  Latin  America. 
Clement  Manly  Morton  first  went  to  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina, 
then  pioneered  in  Asuncion,  Paraguay.  He  founded  there  the 
"Colegio  International. ' '  His  book,  Paraguay,  the  Inland  Re- 
public, came  from  the  press  in  1926.  He  and  Mrs.  Morton  now 
serve  at  the  Evangelical  Seminary  at  Rio  Piedras,  Porto  Rico. 
He  is  a  graduate  of  Atlantic  Christian  College,  and  is  the  "Liv- 
ing Link"  missionary  of  the  Wilson  Christian  Church.  Miss 
Etta  Nunn  for  a  long  period  served  effectively  in  the  field  serv- 
ice of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Societies.  She  is  a  teacher  in 
the  Mission  School  of  the  Disciples  at  San  Luis  Potosi,  Mexico, 
which  enrolls  four  hundred  and  sixty-one  pupils.  Miss  Nunn 
is  a  native  of  New  Bern.  She  served  as  superintendent  of  the 
Woman's  Missionary  Service  of  the  Disciples  in  the  Chesapeake 
Area  with  office  at  Richmond,  prior  to  her  Mexican  mission, 
which  began  in  January,  1922.  Miss  Mary  Irene  Orvis  is  the 
daughter  of  E.  E.  Orvis.  He  was  pastor  of  the  Kinston  Disci- 
ples in  the  early  Eighties.  Miss  Orvis  first  went  to  Buenos 
Aires,  Argentina,  where  she  taught  in  the  Colegio  Americano, 
then  to  Asuncion,  Paraguay.  She  is  dean  of  the  girls'  dormitory 
in  Asuncion,  and  teaches  English  and  Bible  in  the  Mission 
School.  She  is  the  "Living  Link"  missionary  of  the  Gordon 
Street  Christian  Church  of  Kinston. 

The  Disciples  in  all  of  their  conventions  have  been  outspoken 
for  civic  righteousness,  particularly  as  it  related  to  temperance. 
A  resolution  adopted  in  the  Convention  at  Dunn  in  1906  is 
typical.  It  was  addressed  "To  the  Honorable  Bodies  of  Law- 
makers of  the  Legislature  and  Assembly  of  North  Carolina." 
It  follows: 

Realizing  the  power  and  persistent  demoralizing  influence  of  the  liquor 
traffic,  the  most  deceptive  and  destructive  enemy  to  the  best  interests  of 
mankind,  and  that  to  prohibit  the  manufacture,  sale  and  use  of  it  to  save 
humanity  will  require  the  combined  sympathy,  efforts  and  influence  of  all 
Christian  people,  therefore  we  urge  upon  you  to  push  your  wise  legislation, 
as  in  the  past  four  years,  to  further  prohibit  the  manufacture,  sale  and 
importation   of  intoxicating  liquors  in  the   State. 

Also,  we  urge  the  reinstatement  of  the  scientific  temperance  instruction 
law,  wiiich  requires  the  teaching  of  physiology  and  hygiene,  with  reference 


202  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

to   the   poisonous   effects  of   alcohol   and    other   narcotics   upon   the   human 
system. 

Also,  we  urge  the  enactment  of  a  stringent  law  with  penalty,  in  interest 
of  promoting  purity  in  literature  and  art. 

In  the  World  War  North  Carolina  Disciples  gave  eleven  of 
their  pastors  who  wore  the  uniform  in  some  branch  of  the  Serv- 
ice. These  were:  Richard  Bagby,  L.  C.  Carawan,  Perry  Case, 
F.  X.  Credle,  Hayes  Farish,  W.  T.  LaPrade,  Wright  T.  Moore, 
M.  E.  Sadler,  J.  J.  Walker,  John  M.  Waters,  and  C.  F.  Whitney. 

In  their  convention  of  1924  at  Dunn,  the  Chairman  of  the 
Resolutions  Committee  was  John  Barclay.  He  was  then  the 
pastor  of  the  Wilson  Disciples.  He  had  been  a  Captain  in  the 
World  War.  The  eighth  section  of  this  Committee's  report  was 
known  as  the  "Anti-War  Resolution"  and  was  adopted.  It 
follows : 

Whereas,  we  believe  war  to  be  the  great  collective  sin  of  our  age  and  the 
very  antithesis  of  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  Christ,  therefore  be  it  Resolved, 
That  we,  Disciples  of  Christ  of  North  Carolina  in  State  Convention  assem- 
bled, appeal  to  our  government  to  enter  the  World  Court,  to  outlaw  war, 
and  to  co-operate  freely  with  other  nations  in  making  possible  the  settling 
of  international  disputes  by  an  appeal  to  reason  and  justice  instead  of  an 
appeal  to  the  sword. 

We  hereby  recommend  to  the  churches  of  Christ  of  North  Carolina  to 
serve  notice  on  the  State  that  our  churches  will  never  be  used  to  bless 
another  war  or  to  encourage  men  to  volunteer  for  war  service.  We  further 
believe  no  Christian  can  take  part  in  organized  murder,  but  leave  the  deci- 
sion to  individual  conscience,  where  we  believe  the  ultimate  decision  for  war 
or  against  it  must  be  made. 

Notes 

American  Christian  Preacher  and  Disciples'  Miscellany,  Nov.,  1855,  pages 
136-140.  2Cireular  Letter,  Minutes,  1846.  "Disciples  Advocate,  Aug.,  1858, 
pages  342,  343.  *Ibid.,  April,  1858,  pages  221,  222.  "Christian  Baptist, 
(Walsh)  Jan.,  1859,  page  14.  «Ibid.,  page  16.  7Jbid.,  March,  1859,  pages 
85,  86.  "Minutes,  1868.  "Watch  Tower,  April  21,  1905,  page  9.  "Carolina 
Evangel,    Sept.   19,   1907.   page  5. 


Chapter  XXII 
THE  PRESS 

The  printer  in  America  emerged  to  a  large  community  serv- 
ice ere  the  Disciples  began  to  develop.  The  rise  of  the  North 
Carolina  group  of  Disciples  was  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years 
later  than  those  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  Middle  "West.  Thus  it 
followed  that  the  Disciples  of  this  State  at  first  depended  upon 
the  press  of  the  older  and  larger  fellowships  to  the  West  and 
Northwest.  Alexander  Campbell  edited  the  Christian  Baptist 
at  Bethany,  West  Virginia,  from  1823  to  1830.  It  was  an  icono- 
clastic journal.  Christian  union  was  an  idealized  objective. 
Great  obstacles  blocked  the  way.  Campbell  sought  to  remove 
these.  In  doing  this  he  ran  counter  to  entrenched  tradition ;  of 
interpretations  and  practices  having  the  sanction  of  long  and 
distinguished  usage.  His  reactions  led  to  some  extremes.  His 
writings  are  misunderstood  unless  the  latter  half  of  his  min- 
istry be  considered. 

The  Christian  Baptist  circulated  to  some  extent  in  North 
Carolina.  In  December,  1826,  a  Baptist  preacher  in  Wake 
County  wrote  Campbell  of  the  anti-missionary  movement  in  the 
Raleigh  Association.  Campbell  said  in  connection  with  his  re- 
port on  this  letter  that  he  had  recently  seen  a  preacher  from  the 
Neuse  Association  who  said  that  he  understood  that  fifteen 
Churches  in  it  contemplated  withdrawal  because  of  missionary 
propaganda  in  that  Association.  Some  Baptist  writers  have 
misrepresented  Campbell  on  this  issue.1  While  at  first  he  ap- 
peared to  oppose  missionary  effort,  the  strength  of  his  mature 
years  was  devoted  to  that  cause.  Indeed  he  became  chief  of  the 
missionary  leaders  in  his  communion.  However,  his  journal 
might  have  introduced  some  revolutionary  thought  into  the 
Churches  of  the  Neuse  and  Raleigh  Associations.  This  might 
have  created  an  atmosphere  favorable  for  the  promotion  of  the 
Disciples'  plea  which  came  shortly.  The  main  nucleus  of  the 
Disciples  coming  from  the  Regular  Baptists  appeared  in  the 
Neuse  Association.  The  Mill  Creek  Church  of  Christ  in  John- 
ston Count}7  was  originally  of  the  Raleigh  Association. 

203 


204  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

The  Christian  Messenger,  of  Georgetown,  Kentucky,  was  the 
journal  edited  by  Barton  "W.  Stone.  This  also  had  some  circula- 
tion in  North  Carolina.  In  its  issue  of  October,  1831,  there  is 
shown  the  appointment  of  the  State  agent  for  that  paper  in 
North  Carolina.  He  was  I.  Johnson,  the  postmaster  at  Reedy 
Fork,  in  Guilford  County. 

The  Millennial  Harbinger  (1830-1870)  had  extensive  circula- 
tion in  the  State.  The  Gospel  Proclamation  edited  by  Alexander 
W.  Hall,  in  the  Forties  was  read  by  some  here.2  As  the  Dis- 
ciples grew  they  saw  the  importance  of  a  state  organ.  In  their 
annual  meeting  at  Oak  Grove,  Greene  County,  1851,  the  following 
resolution  introduced  by  Henry  Robinson  of  Martin  County,  was 
adopted:  "That  we  recommend  to  the  brethren  in  general  to 
co-operate  in  establishing  a  Religious  Periodical  within  the 
bounds  of  this  Conference,  believing  in  the  utility  and  expedi- 
ency of  such  a  measure ;  and  that  it  will  greatly  promote  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel,  tend  to  the  edification  of  the  brethren,  and 
promote  the  glory  of  God." 

In  January,  1851,  E.  E.  Orvis  began  in  Baltimore,  Maryland, 
The  Christian  Union  and  Religious  Review.  It  was  of  pam- 
phlet size  as  practically  all  of  the  religious  journals  of  the  Dis- 
ciples of  that  period.  By  the  end  of  the  year  he  had  moved  to 
New  London,  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  continued 
it.  George  Joyner,  who  then  lived  near  Falkland  in  Pitt  County, 
North  Carolina,  was  impressed  with  this  journal  and  volunteered 
to  become  agent  for  it  in  his  area.  On  November  25,  1851,  he 
wrote  Orvis  as  follows:3  "The  first  volume  of  the  Union  and 
Review,  has  been  received  and  perused  with  great  delight.  I 
think  I  can,  without  hesitation,  say  it  is  the  very  work  we  need 
here.  Ignorance  and  superstition  are  compelled  to  flee  before 
the  clear  light  which  it  brings  to  the  minds  of  its  readers;  and 
in  a  short  time  I  hope,  and  believe  I  shall  be  able  to  send  you 
a  long  list  of  subscribers.  It  would  indeed  be  gratifying  to  me 
to  see  it  in  every  family,  and  I  propose  making  a  strong  effort 
to  that  effect," 

Joyner  put  it  into  numerous  homes.  Editor  Orvis  was  pleased 
with  his  North  Carolina  list.  A  year  later  Orvis  said:4  "We 
would  call  particular  attention  to  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 
Our  good  brethren  in  that  State  have  favored  us  with  a  pretty 
fair  list,  which   (many  thanks  to  them),  is  steadily  increasing. 


THE   PRESS  205 

But  there  is  not  one  delinquent  on  this  list!  All  have  paid — 
and  nearly  all  strictly  in  advance.  Such  an  example  is  worthy 
of  being  followed.  Subscribers  can  hardly  realize  how  gratify- 
ing it  is  to  a  publisher  to  receive  his  money  promptly  in  accord- 
ance with  his  terms.    It  is  the  very  life  of  the  business." 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  this  paper  was  later  merged  with  the 
American  Christian  Preacher,  a  publication  of  Dr.  Walsh.5 
Orvis  twenty-five  years  later  became  pastor  of  the  Kinston  Dis- 
ciples. Today  his  daughter  is  a  "Living  Link"  missionary  of 
the  Kinston  Church. 

With  the  coming  of  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh  in  March,  1852,  the 
Disciples  had  an  editor  who  was  qualified.  During  almost  the 
entire  period  of  his  thirty-three  years '  service  in  North  Carolina, 
he  published  a  periodical,  and  sometimes  had  two  simultane- 
ously. He  had  fourteen  different  names  for  his  North  Carolina 
papers.  Altogether  they  were  issued  from  four  places  respec- 
tively. They  might  be  considered  as  one  paper  except  that  at 
certain  periods  he  issued  an  anti-masonic  journal  giving  his  pro- 
nounced personal  views. 

Tabulated  as  to  name,  office  of  publication,  and  date,  his  four- 
teen papers  appeared  as  follows : 

(1)  The  Christian  Friend,  Wilson  and  Goldsboro,  1853-54. 

(2)  The   Christian  Friend  and  Bible   Unionist,  Hookerton, 

1854-55. 

(3)  The  American  Christian  Preacher  and  Disciples'  Mis- 

cellany, Kinston,  1855-56. 

(4)  The  Christian  Preacher,  Kinston,  1857. 

(5)  The  Disciples'  Advocate,  Kinston,  1857-58. 
(0)   The  Christian  Baptist,  Kinston,  1859. 

(7)  The  Carolina  Christian  Monthly }  Kinston,  1860. 

(8)  The  Messianic  Banner,  New  Bern,  1866. 

(9)  The  Biblical  Monthly   and  Prophetic   Examiner,   New 

Bern,  1866-68. 

(10)  The  Banner  of  Christ,  New  Bern,  1869. 

(11)  American  Independent  Quarterly  and  Radical  Reformer, 

New  Bern,  1871-73. 

(12)  The  Watch  Tower,  New  Bern,  1872-74;  Kinston,  1876- 

79. 


206  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

(13)  American  Independent  Monthly  and  Bible  Thinker,  New 

Bern,  1874-75;  Kinston,  1875. 

(14)  Walsh's  Living  Age,  Kinston,  1884-85. 

These  papers  were  all  in  pamphlet  form  except  the  Watch 
Tower  during  its  last  year  under  Dr.  Walsh,  1879.  It  was  his 
hope  that  these  publications  should  be  bound.  For  that  pur- 
pose the  pamphlet  form  was  more  adapatable.  This  hope  was 
evidently  not  realized.  We  have  found  no  bound  series  of  these 
journals.  In  view  of  their  prime  value  to  the  historian,  we  are 
at  a  loss  to  explain  this  neglect. 

Dr.  Walsh  was  in  the  State  more  than  a  year  before  he  began 
the  Christian  Friend.  This  was  the  first  Disciple  paper  pub- 
lished within  the  State.  In  reviewing  the  first  issue  of  this,  E. 
E.  Orvis  said:6 

We  have  received  the  first  number  of  a  neat  little  monthly  of  sixteen 
pages  with  the  above  title.  It  is  devoted  to  Primitive  Christianity,  and  has 
for  a  motto  the  words  of  Jesus — "Ye  are  my  friends  if  ye  do  whatsoever 
I  command  you. ' ' 

In  assigning  reasons  for  the  undertaking  the  editor  says, — ' '  And  after 
all  that  has  been  said  on  the  subject,  it  would  be  as  well  for  every  State 
that  can  sustain  it,  to  have  a  journal  of  its  own.  At  present,  some  of  the 
States  have  two  papers,  while  others  have  none.  We  are  fully  satisfied  of 
one  thing;  namely — That  if  there  be  a  State  in  the  Union  where  we  should 
have  a  religious  periodical,  devoted  to  Primitive  Christianity,  North  Caro- 
lina, is  the  State. ' '  The  first  number  gives  promise  that  the  Brethren  in 
North  Carolina  will  be  provided  with  a  periodical  that  will  be  well  worthy 
of  their  support. 

This  paper  was  recognized  in  the  Annual  Meeting  at  Wheat 
Swamp  in  1853,  with  the  following  resolution:  "Whereas  the 
Disciples  in  North  Carolina  have,  for  years,  felt  the  need  of  a 
Periodical  among  us  to  contend  for  the  'faith  once  delivered  to 
the  Saints';  and  whereas  one  has  already  been  started  by  Elder 
John  T.  Walsh,  Therefore, 

"Resolved,  that  we  will  exert  ourselves  to  sustain  said  Period- 
ical and  recommend  it  to  the  brotherhood." 

It  was  again  recognized  in  like  manner  in  the  Convention  of 
1854,  and  Dr.  Walsh  wras  asked  to  print  the  Convention  Minutes 
in  it.  Dr.  Walsh  had  procured  George  Joyner  of  Marlboro, 
North  Carolina,  and  J.  A.  Butler  of  Okolona,  Mississippi,  as 
' '  Co-editors. ' '  It  was  his  ambition  to  make  his  paper  serve  the 
Disciples  throughout  the  Southern  States.     In  July,  1855,  he 


THE   PRESS  207 

added  B.  F.  Manire  of  Cotton  Gin  Port,  Mississippi,  and  W.  C. 
Kirkpatrick  and  George  Plattenburg  to  his  staff  of  contributors. 
Walsh  said:  "I  hope  to  have  contributors  and  readers  in  all 
the  States  of  our  wide-spread  union."  In  January,  1857,  when 
he  had  reduced  the  name  to  The  Christian  Preacher,  he  said:7 
1 ' Our  design  is  to  make  the  Preacher  more  practical  in  its  teach- 
ing than  heretofore.  We  have  discussed  first  principles,  more 
or  less,  from  the  commencement  of  our  periodical,  and  shall  con- 
tinue, as  occasion  may  require,  to  touch  upon  these  matters; 
but  our  great  object  will  be  to  instruct  the  Disciples  in  'all 
things  whatsoever  the  Lord  has  commanded.'  And  we  hope  our 
correspondents  will  have  an  eye  to  this  in  future,  in  all  their 
discourses  and  essays." 

It  was  felt  by  the  Annual  Meeting  of  1857  that  Dr.  Walsh's 
paper  should  be  adopted  as  a  brotherhood  project.  Accordingly 
the  Committee  on  Periodicals  submitted  the  following  resolution 
which  was  accepted: 

"Resolved  that  in  the  judgment  of  this  conference  it  is  inde- 
spensibly  necessary  that  we  should  have  a  religious  paper. 

' '  Resolved,  that  this  body  recommend  to  all  the  churches,  that 
they  use  their  utmost  efforts  to  sustain  that  paper. 

"Resolved  that  Elder  Jno.  T.  Walsh  be  appointed  Editor  of 
such  paper,  and  we  pledge  ourselves  to  sustain  it.  The  name  of 
the  paper  to  be  The  Disciples'  Advocate." 

In  the  next  Annual  Meeting  this  Committee  reported  that 
they  were  "disappointed"  in  their  "sanguine  expectations," 
and  "that  a  few  comparatively  speaking  have  had  to  bear  the 
greater  portion  of  the  burden."  They,  therefore,  concluded 
"that  it  is  inexpedient  to  continue  its  publication  under  the 
direction  and  control  of  the  Conference." 

In  January,  1859,  Dr.  Walsh  began  the  Christian  Baptist.  Its 
motto  was:  "One  Lord,  One  Faith,  and  One  Baptism."  The 
subscription  price  had  to  be  increased  to  two  dollars  per  year. 
This  was  double  the  former  rate.  He  complained  that  Southern 
people  neglected  to  patronize  their  own  periodicals.  He  said:8 
"We  will  venture  the  assertion  that  more  money  is  annually 
sent  from  North  Carolina  to  Northern  publishers  than  is  ex- 
pended for  State  Literature  all  told."     He  concluded: 


208  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

"This  periodical  could  be  furnished  at  $1  per  annum,  if  our 
friends  and  brethren,  and  sisters!  were  not  so  fond  of  romance, 
fiction  and  folly!  If  we  were  to  fill  our  pages  with  love  stories 
no  doubt  it  would  take  admirably;  but  as  we  prefer  the  solid, 
the  useful,  and  the  instructive,  we  are  compelled  to  have  a 
limited  circulation,  and,  as  a  consequence,  charge  what  many 
will  consider  a  high  price  for  our  periodical." 

In  January,  1860,  the  paper  was  rechristened.  It  then  be- 
came the  Carolina  Christian  Monthly.  In  the  editorial  announce- 
ment of  the  change  Dr.  Walsh  said:9 

During  our  editorial  career  in  this  State  we  have  selected  several  dif- 
ferent names  for  our  periodical,  none  of  which  exactly  suited  us;  and  in- 
deed they  did  not  generally  please  our  readers.  *  *  *  We  now  call  it 
the  Carolina  Christian  Monthly.  In  this  simple  name  we  have  indicated  its 
location,  its  character,  and  its  periodicity.  *  *  *  We  design  making  our 
periodical  more  practical  than  heretofore.  First  principles  have  been  suf- 
ficiently discussed.  Faith,  Repentance,  Baptism,  etc.,  have  been  freely  and 
fully  discussed,  and  we  shall  turn  our  attention  to  more  practical  matters. 
*  *  *  We  shall  labor  to  build  up  the  saints,  and  to  organize  and  disci- 
pline the  churches  according  to  the  New  Testament;  that  they  may  become 
more  efficient  instrumentalities  in  disseminating  the  truth  and  converting 
sinners.  *  *  *  In  a  word,  we  desire  a  development  of  all  the  resources 
of  the  churches  that  we  may  present  a  bold  and  united  front  against  the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil. 

This  paper  continued  but  six  months  since  Dr.  Walsh  was 
engaged  in  teaching.  Furthermore  War  was  impending,  and  the 
paper  was  not  adequately  supported.  At  the  Annual  Meeting, 
1860,  the  Committee  reported  the  status  of  the  paper  and  said: 
"We  cannot  find  it  in  our  hearts  to  recommend  the  publication 
of  another  at  present,  nor  do  we  think  it  expedient  to  recom- 
mend any,  but  leave  the  brethren  to  act  as  they  may  think 
proper." 

After  the  War  Dr.  Walsh  lived  a  year  in  Baltimore.  He  was 
again  located  in  North  Carolina,  at  New  Bern  by  June,  1866. 
He  was  then  conducting  The  Messianic  Banner  with  the  motto: 
"We  Write  for  Those  Who  Eead  and  Think  for  Themselves." 
In  this  the  editor  ran  a  series  of  his  articles  on  "The  Millen- 
nium," and  "The  Second  Advent  of  Christ."  Later  in  the 
same  year  he  began  the  Biblical  Monthly  which  was  soon  con- 
solidated with  The  Banner  of  the  Faith,  a  paper  of  Hamilton, 
West  Canada,  edited  by  D.  Oliphant. 


Wilson  Colleaiate  Institute 


THE   PRESS  209 

In  January,  1869,  he  began  another  monthly  at  New  Bern 
called  The  Banner  of  Christ.  The  price  of  this  was  a  dollar  and 
a  half  per  year,  with  postage  in  addition  amounting  to  twelve 
cents  a  year  payable  by  the  subscriber  quarterly  in  advance  at 
the  office  of  delivery.  This  was  a  sixteen-page  anti-Masonic 
Journal.  It  carried  his  controversy  with  an  anonymous  writer 
supposed  to  be  Judge  Reid  of  the  North  Carolina  Supreme  Court 
on  the  merits  of  Masonry.  His  other  journals  of  this  character 
which  appeared  later  were  his  Quarterly  and  his  Bible  Thinker. 

The  greatest  contribution  in  the  editorial  field  by  Dr.  Walsh 
was  his  Watch  Tower,  the  first  issue  of  which  appeared,  October, 
1872.  It  started  as  a  twenty-four  page  monthly  pamphlet,  pub- 
lished in  New  Bern,  the  home  of  the  editor.  The  Committee  on 
Publications  in  the  Convention  of  1872  submitted  an  enthusias- 
tic report  commending  it.  They  asked  that  it  be  enlarged  to 
thirty-two  pages  and  urged  a  general  support  of  it.  In  the  Con- 
vention of  1873  the  Watch  Tower  Publishing  Company  was 
organized.  The  Committee  framing  its  "Constitution"  were: 
Dr.  R.  W.  King,  Joseph  H.  Foy,  J.  J.  Harper,  James  R.  Robin- 
son, Josephus  Latham,  R.  J.  Taylor,  and  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh. 
This  provided  for  its  incorporation  and  a  capitalization  to  the 
minimum  of  $2,000.00,  with  shares  at  twenty-five  dollars  each. 
Twenty-six  representative  Disciples  from  various  sections  were 
appointed  to  effect  the  organization  as  set  forth  in  the  "Consti- 
tution." Dr.  R.  W.  King  was  elected  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  and  M.  T.  Moye,  Secretary.  They  both  lived  in  Wil- 
son. The  Secretary  was  to  procure  a  regular  corporation  book 
in  which  to  register  the  stock  and  keep  the  official  minutes.  The 
first  report  of  Trustees  showed  that  fifty-four  shares  had  been 
taken  for  fifty-one  individuals,  scattered  from  Asheville  to  Pan- 
tego.  After  continuing  two  years  it  was  decided  to  issue  it  in 
newspaper  form  semi-monthly.  Moses  T.  Moye,  of  Wilson,  was 
appointed  editor.  The  first  issue  under  this  arrangement  was 
dated  January  1,  1875.  It  was  discontinued  in  December  of 
that  year  for  lack  of  adequate  support.  In  May,  1876,  Dr. 
Walsh  resumed  publication  of  the  Watch  Tower.  This  was  upon 
his  personal  responsibility.  As  he  had  aged  in  the  service,  it 
was  hoped  that  the  paper  might  yield  him  a  competency  in  his 
declining  years.  In  this  he  was  disappointed.  He  continued  it 
through  1878  in  pamphlet  form  making  it  a  strong  promotional 


210  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

help  to  the  State  Missionary  cause.  In  1879,  he  conducted  it  in 
newspaper  form.  He  wished  to  be  relieved  of  it,  and  offered  it 
to  John  J.  Harper  who  was  not  conveniently  situated  to  manage 
it.  J.  L.  Winfield  then  took  it,  and  made  of  it  a  great  medium 
for  news  and  promotion  of  the  organized  agencies  of  the  Dis- 
ciples. AVinfield  ran  it  most  of  the  time  from  1879  until  his 
death  in  1897.  Isaac  L.  Chestnutt  was  editor  of  it  in  1886. 
Later  editors  have  been :  J.  F.  Coss,  in  1898 ;  D.  W.  Davis,  from 
1899 ;  J.  D.  Waters,  from  1901 ;  D.  H.  Petree  and  II.  C.  Bowen, 
from  1904,  and  Henry  T.  King,  from  October,  1905.  Early  in 
1904  the  mailing  list  of  the  Watch  Tower  was  transferred  to  the 
Christian  Standard,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.10  J.  D.  Waters,  the 
editor,  had  been  in  the  employ  of  the  State  Mission  Board  in 
1903,  but  had  gone  that  Fall  as  a  student  to  the  College  of  the 
Bible,  Lexington,  Kentucky.  He  had  left  the  paper  to  the  sole 
management  of  D.  H.  Petree.  A  suspension  of  it  was  planned 
by  Petree,  when  Waters  sold  it  to  the  Christian  Standard,  who 
conducted  it  as  the  Watch  Tower  for  eighteen  months,  then  as 
the  Christian  Weekly11  from  July  15,  1905,  to  January  19,  1907. 
In  the  closing  issue  the  publishers  stated:  "Under  the  circum- 
stances it  has  reluctantly  been  decided  to  suspend  the  Weekly 
as  we  cannot  afford  to  increase  the  already  heavy  deficit  on  the 
paper."  In  the  meantime  the  Disciples'  State  Convention  at 
LaGrange  in  1905  had  recommended  King's  Watch  Tower  at 
Greenville,  "as  the  official  organ  of  the  North  Carolina  Chris- 
tian Missionary  Convention."12  This  continued  for  a  few  years. 
In  1914  the  Christian  Standard  transferred  its  equity  in  the 
Watch  Tower  to  W.  H.  Mizelle  at  Robersonville,  who  has  since 
conducted  it  from  that  office. 

It  should  be  said  that  under  J.  L.  WTinfield  at  Washington  the 
Watch  Tower  attained  great  popularity  and  usefulness.  This 
was  from  1879  to  1897.  As  some  observers  enthusiastically  said 
lie  was  perhaps  the  leading  editor  of  Eastern  North  Carolina. 
His  interest  in  education  was  indicated  and  his  spirit  as  a  jour- 
nalist was  disclosed  in  a  characteristic  editorial  in  his  Watch 
Tower  of  September  15,  1882.  It  was  captioned:  "The  Kin- 
ston  Schools."    It  follows: 

"We  are  glad  to  note  the  prosperity  that  attends  the  two  schools  in 
Kinston.  The  generous  and  magnanimous  citizens  of  the  town  and  county 
deserve  the  thanks  of  all  the  friends  of  education  for  such  determined  ef- 


THE  PRESS  211 

forts  to  found  and  support  two  schools  of  high  order.  We  desire  to  say  a 
few  plain  words  about  these  schools,  and  we  had  as  well  have  our  say  now 
as  next  year.  From  certain  letters  and  circulars  received  at  this  office  we 
are  justified  in  saying  that  a  newspaper  quarrel  is  threatening,  provided,  a 
quarrelsome  paper  can  be  found,  foolish  enough  to  publish  what  the  friends 
of  these  two  institutions  may  choose  to  write.  We  cannot  answer  for  other 
papers,  but  we  take  this  method  to  say  to  all,  that  this  paper  shall  not  be 
the  vehicle  or  medium  to  chronicle  flings  at  the  Collegiate  Institute,  Prof. 
Kinsey,  the  Kinston  College,  Prof.  Lewis,  or  any  party  connected  now  or 
heretofore  with  the  Kinston  schools.  It  affords  us  pleasure  to  publish  edu- 
cational notes,  and  have  done  considerable  free  advertising  in  this  way;  but 
we  abhor  newspaper  wrangles,  quarrels  and  abuse,  on  both  school  and  reli- 
gious questions.  We  are  set  for  the  defense  of  Christian  union,  and  when 
this  paper  departs  from  this  principle  we  shall  shed  no  tears  over  its 
funeral.  We  sincerly  hope  all  our  scribes  will  take  warning  and  govern 
themselves  accordingly. 

On  March  7,  1907,  W.  G.  Walker  and  A.  B.  Cunningham 
brought  out  the  first  issue  of  The  Carolina  Evangel.  An  intro- 
ductory word  said :  ' '  The  paper  is  primarily  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  great  Christian  Church  in  the  State  of  North 
Carolina,  and  incidentally  will  be  a  helper  in  all  movements 
looking  toward  the  upbuilding  of  the  morals  and  the  education 
of  the  citizenship  of  the  State. ' '  It  originated  in  the  State  Mis- 
sion Board  to  serve  specially  that  interest.  It  was  named  by 
Preston  Bell  Hall,  then  pastor  of  the  Kinston  Disciples.  Hall 
said: 

We  welcome  the  advent  of  this  child  of  the  press.  *  *  *  No  great 
paper  can  serve  our  purpose  so  well  as  one  published  and  circulated  among 
ourselves.  We  have  our  own  problems  and  our  own  ways  that  would  be  of 
no  interest  to  the  general  public.  *  *  *  To  me  the  fact  that  this  paper 
is  issued  by  the  State  Board  is  the  assurance  that  we  will  have  a  paper  to 
serve  the  purposes  one  would  expect  of  a  religious  paper.  It  is  therefore 
the  Evangel  of  hope  for  our  churches  in  this  State;  a  messenger  to  carry 
good  news  into  our  homes. 

When  W.  G.  Walker  left  the  State  Mission  Work  in  1908,  J. 
R.  Rountree  of  Kinston  became  editor  of  the  Carolina  Evangel 
and  continued  until  1910  when  H.  C.  Bowen  of  Belhaven  became 
manager  of  it.  It  had  been  a  weekly  from  the  beginning,  and 
financially  had  "been  a  losing  proposition  from  the  start."  In 
1909  the  annual  deficit  on  it  was  seven  hundred  dollars.  The 
State  Board  wanted  to  be  relieved  so  they  offered  the  paper 
to  the  Roanoke  District,  when  it  met  at  Zion's  Chapel,  May  28, 
1910.     They  accepted  it  and  appointed  a  Publication  Commit- 


212  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

tee  of  twelve  to  operate  it.13  Five  of  the  Committee  lived  in 
Belhaven.  The  Personnel  of  this  Committee  was  as  follows:  F. 
L.  Voliva,  J.  D.  Pugh,  J.  F.  Bishop,  Thomas  Greene,  W.  0.  Win- 
field,  J.  B.  Walker,  J.  G.  Latham,  George  Hackney,  Col.  S.  B. 
Taylor,  J.  J.  Brinston,  J.  F.  Owen,  and  Dr.  K.  H.  Jones. 

H.  C.  Bowen,  the  Belhaven  pastor,  was  editor.  He  continued 
it  there  until  next  year  when  he  went  to  Wilmington  and 
changed  its  name  to  The  Evangel,  and  issued  it  from  that  city. 

In  1912  and  '13,  The  Evangel  was  managed  and  edited  by 
Pendell  Bush  with  office  of  publication  at  Wilson.  He  was  ex- 
tremely zealous  in  promotion  of  subscriptions,  and  perhaps  has 
the  distinction  of  being  the  only  editor  of  a  religious  paper 
among  Disciples  of  the  State  realizing  financial  profit  from  the 
enterprise.  Dr.  Walsh  confessed  a  personal  loss  of  $2,000.00  on 
the  fourteen  papers  he  had  conducted  during  his  service  in  the 
State. 

In  June,  1876,  John  J.  Harper  began  The  Christian  Visitor, 
issued  monthly  from  Smithfield.  It  consisted  of  four  pages  in 
newspaper  form.     The  editor  said: 

I  start  out  in  opposition  to  none,  but  with  love,  in  my  heart  for  all, 
determined  to  spend  my  time,  and  employ  my  talent  in  the  interest  of  the 
Redeemer 's  Kingdom.  I  shall  make  a  studious  effort  to  meet  the  necessities 
of  the  cause  of  Christ  in  this  State,  and  to  promote  the  growth,  of 
' '  dwarfs ' '  in  all  our  congregations,  and,  thereby  bring  them  up  to  the 
full  ' '  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ. ' '  There  are  many 
among  us  who  seem  to  be  inactive,  disspirited,  dull,  and  dormant,  and  in 
the  interest  of  all  such  we  shall  ' '  speak  the  truth  in  love, ' '  and  endeavor, 
' '  by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing, ' '  to  infuse  new  life  into  them,  and 
to  rekindle  the  fire  that  has  burned  so  low. 

This  was  a  good  paper  but  also  failed  after  about  two  years 
for  lack  of  support.  In  1886  it  was  revived  for  a  period  under 
the  same  management.  From  1888  to  1891  North  Carolina  Dis- 
ciples had  no  paper  of  their  own.  During  that  time,  John  J. 
Harper  wrote  a  column  of  ' '  North  Carolina  Notes ' '  for  the  Mis- 
sionary Weekly  of  Richmond,  Virginia.  It  was  edited  by  I.  J. 
Spencer,  minister  of  the  Seventh  Street  Christian  Church  in 
Richmond. 

W.  G.  Johnston  was  pastor  for  seven  years  at  New  Bern  and 
Kinston.  During  a  part  of  this  ministry  he  managed  The  Chris- 
tian Worker  which  was  published,  beginning  1898,  at  Kinston. 
The  editors  were  D.  H.  Petree  and  L.  T.  Rightsell. 


THE   PRESS  213 

In  November,  1919,  as  a  result  of  a  request  coming  from  the 
State  Mission  Board  and  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Atlantic 
Christian  College,  there  was  formed  The  Carolina  Christian  Pub- 
lishing Company.  This  was  for  the  purpose  of  publishing  the 
North  Carolina  Christian.  It  is  an  eight  page  monthly  of  maga- 
zine size.  It  represents  the  main  organized  missionary  and  edu- 
cational agencies  of  the  Disciples.  An  introductory  editorial 
statement  in  the  initial  issue  of  February,  1920,  said: 

When  we  went  to  our  people  for  a  substantial  backing  for  this  paper 
with  its  specific  program  of  service,  we  had  heartening  responses  in  divers 
places;  from  the  young  woman  just  out  of  College  to  the  matronly  widow; 
from  the  young  business  man  just  making  his  initial  investments,  to  the 
man  of  silvered  hair  who  soldiered  in  the  sixties.  They  have  trusted  us  to 
put  forward  with  this  paper  the  Church  of  Christ  in  all  its  redemptive 
power  in  North  Carolina  and  the  world.  We  will  be  true  to  this  trust,  so 
help  us  God!  Avowedly,  and  as  a  matter  of  course,  this  paper  will  be  true 
to  the  Old  Book,  true  to  the  letter  of  the  Old  Book,  true  to  the  spirit  of 
the  Old  Book,  and  above  all,  true  to  Jesus  Christ,  Who  is  the  Life  of  the 
Old  Book.  And  we  shall  seek  to  verify  to  the  mind  of  the  observer  this 
deep  and  abiding  loyalty  to  God's  Word,  in  our  love  for  men,  manifest  in 
courteous  consideration  of  them,  in  constructive  appeal  to  the  best  that  is 
in  them,  and  courageous,  uncompromising  stand  for  the  Christianity  of  the 
Christ,  in  the  saving  of  them.  We  will  seek  deliberately  to  serve  not  merely 
a  part  of  our  brotherhood,  but,  all  of  it.  We  will  represent  no  clan,  no 
party,  no  faction,  no  sect. 

As  an  author  of  books  and  tracts  Dr.  Walsh  was  the  most  pro- 
lific writer  among  North  Carolina  Disciples.  His  books  were 
(1)  Book  of  Sermons;  (2)  Looking  Down  the  Ages;  (3)  Life 
and  Times  of  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh;  (4)  Nature  and  Duration  of 
Future  Punishment ;  (5)  Moody  Against  Christ  and  His  Apos- 
tles, and  (6)  Immortality :  A  Review  of  Rev.  Luther  Lee.  His 
tracts  were  numerous.  Some  of  the  most  useful  were:  (1) 
What  Must  I  Do  to  Be  Saved f  (2)  Universalism  Exposed  from 
the  Inner  Temple,  and  (3)  Feet  Washing  in  Patriarchal,  Jew- 
ish, and  Christian  Times. 

It  is  said  of  Dr.  Walsh  that  "if  all  his  writings  worthy  of 
being  preserved  had  been  published  in  book  or  tract  form,  they 
would  have  made  not  less  than  twenty  or  more  volumes."14 

It  was  notable  that  N.  S.  Richardson,  who  was  the  leading 
Disciple  at  New  Bern  in  the  founding  of  the  Christian  Church 
there,  was  converted  to  the  Disciples  in  his  printing  plant  while 
proof  reading  Dr.  Walsh's  publications.     Also  G.  N.  Shishma- 


214  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

nian,  a  native  Armenian,  a  resident  of  New  Bern  for  awhile, 
later  a  student  at  Lexington,  Kentucky,  and  a  missionary  of  the 
Disciples  to  Turkey,  was  converted  by  the  writings  of  Dr.  Walsh. 

Another  author  among  North  Carolina  Disciples  was  Joseph 
H.  Foy  who  wrote  The  Christian  Worker,  published  in  St.  Louis, 
Missouri,  by  the  Christian  Publishing  Company,  in  1889.  This 
is  perhaps  the  best  manual  for  the  ministry  which  has  yet  ap- 
peared among  the  Disciples. 

A  thirty-two  page  tract  entitled  Debate  on  Baptism  Between 
a  Pedo-Baptist  and  Immersionist,  by  Josephus  Latham  in  1855, 
had  extensive  circulation  in  that  day  of  polemics. 

Notes 

"■B.  H.  Carroll,  Jr.,  in  his  "Genesis  of  American  Anti-Missionism,"  page 
160,  and  J.  H.  Spencer,  in  his  "History  of  the  Kentucky  Baptists,"  Vol.  I, 
page  609.  2Bound  series  of  these  were  found  by  the  author  in  the  Josephus 
Latham  Collection  with  autograph  of  A.  J.  Battle,  also  a  limited  file  was 
found  in  the  J.  P.  and  William  Quinerly  Collection.  'Christian  Union  and 
Religious  Review,  Jan.,  1852,  page  29.  4Ibid.,  Jan.,  1853,  page  28.  Amer- 
ican Christian  Preacher  and  Disciples  Miscellany,  July,  185,6,  page  222. 
^Christian  Union  and  Religious  Review,  May,  1853,  page  159.  'The  Christian 
Preacher,  Jan.,  1857,  page  2.  sChristian  Baptist  (Walsh),  Jan.,  1859,  pages 
3,  4.  "Carolina  Christian  Monthly,  Jan.,  1860,  pages,  1-3.  10Watch  Tower, 
July  8,  1904.  "Christian  Weekly,  July  15,  1905.  page  8.  i=Watch  Tower, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  Wilson,  N.  C,  Sept.  23,  1905,  page  18,  and  ibid,,  Oct. 
14,  1905,  page  18.  "Carolina  Evangel,  July  1,  1910,  page  2.  ""Life  and 
Times  of  John  T.  Walsh,"   page  149. 


Chapter  XXIII 

RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Effective  training  of  young  people  by  the  church  in  their  rec- 
reational, social,  and  religious  life,  is  a  modern  development. 
Looking  back  a  few  decades  one  will  observe  almost  none  of  it 
in  the  practice  of  the  church.  Yet  our  fathers  wrestled  with 
the  problem.  In  their  hearts  they  recognized  the  principle. 
They  were  handicapped  essentially  by  lack  of  both  equipment 
and  sympathetic  co-operation.  In  large  areas  where  the  North 
Carolina  Disciples  grew,  they  were  immediate  neighbors  to  a 
people  who  professedly  regarded  Sunday  Schools  as  a  "modern 
invention,"  no  better  than  a  circus  or  other  worldly  amusement 
of  the  day.  Gradually,  the  young  people  came  to  have  a  large 
and  distinct  part  in  the  activities  of  the  Church.  We  will  en- 
deavor to  show  this  in  historical  outline. 

When  the  Disciples  began  in  North  Carolina  in  1841,  so  far 
as  the  records  disclose,  there  was  not  a  Bible  School  among  them. 
Their  first  "Sabbath  School"  was  organized  at  Kinston,  April 
8,  1849. x  When  they  gathered  in  Annual  Meeting  at  Rose  of 
Sharon  in  1854,  R.  W.  King,  then  of  Kinston,  moved:  "That 
we  recommend  to  the  brethren  to  establish  Sunday  Schools  in  all 
our  churches."  This  motion  was  adopted,  but  we  see  no  evi- 
dence of  its  being  carried  promptly  into  effect.  Their  next  An- 
nual Meeting  was  at  Kinston.  Here  they  first  adopted  an 
agenda  for  such  meetings  called  "Order  of  Business."  The 
sixth  item  of  this  was  "Sunday  Schools."  Josephus  Latham  as 
chairman  of  the  Committee  gave  the  following  report  which  was 
' '  received, ' '  and  adopted : 

The  importance  of  Sunday  Schools,  we  presume,  no  Christian  will  pre- 
tend to  doubt;  as  they  have  a  tendency  to  draw  the  minds  of  children  from 
vicious  pursuits  on  the  Lord's  Day,  and  to  raise  them  to  holier  aspirations. 
But  notwithstanding  all  the  advantages  to  the  rising  generation  which 
might  be  received  from  Anti-sectarian  Schools,  the  Disciples  have  neglected 
establishing  any,  and  tamely  submit  their  children  to  be  taught  by  those 
who  actually  despise  the  doctrines  we  so  much  cherish.  We,  therefore, 
solicit  our  brethren  to  establish  Sunday  Schools,  in  which  the  true  principles 
of  the  Bible  may  be  taught. 

215 


216  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

This  Committee  on  Sunday  Schools  functioned  in  reporting  at 
each  Annual  Meeting.  In  1857  it  was  composed  of  Peter  Hines, 
Seth  H.  Tyson,  and  John  A.  Leggett.  They  reported  as  follows : 
"That  we  have  carefully  considered  the  subject,  and  would 
therefore  recommend  it  to  the  serious  consideration  of  all  the 
churches  belonging  to  this  Conference,  to  use  all  laudable  means 
to  establish  Sunday  Schools  in  their  respective  churches. 

"Further,  that  all  ministers  belonging  to  the  Conference  be, 
and  are  hereby  requested,  to  urge  the  same  before  their  respective 
congregations  so  as  to  engage  the  minds  of  both  parents  and  chil- 
dren in  this  noble  work." 

The  leaders  were  conscious  of  inadequate  facilities.  The  Com- 
mittee of  1858  felt  that  there  should  be  a  move  to  supply  at 
least  one  of  the  deficiencies.    They  said : 

Resolved,  that  we  recommend  to  the  clerks  of  our  several  churches  to 
present  a  subscription  to  the  community  at  large  to  make  up  a  sufficient 
amount  of  money  to  purchase  a  Sabbath  School  Library,  which  we  suppose 
will  cost  about  two  dollars,  and  for  that  Library  to  be  the  common  prop- 
erty of  the  church  where  the  money  is  made  up. 

Resolved,  that  we  do  most  earnestly  recommend  to  our  brotherhood,  and 
especially  to  our  young  brothers  and  sisters,  to  take  a  deep  interest  in 
the  matter,  so  that  it  may  prove  a  blessing  to  the  community. 

Serving  on  this  committee  were  H.  D.  Cason,  Thos.  H.  Bowen, 
and  J.  L.  Clifton.  This  recommendation  seems  to  have  had 
popular  approval,  since  we  find  some  groups  putting  it  into 
effect. 

In  1859,  a  definite  community  service  was  a  postulate  for 
urging  extension  of  Bible  Schools.     The  report  said: 

That  it  is  a  conceded  fact  by  all  true  Christians,  that  Sabbath,  or  Lord 's 
Day  schools  may  be  a  very  great  auxiliary  to  piety;  and  when  conducted 
properly,  the  effects  on  the  rising  generation,  are  exceedingly  beneficial 
both  spiritually  and  temporally.  They  improve  the  education  of  the  stu- 
dents, and  many  poor  children  have  been  taught  to  read  by  means  of  Sun- 
day Schools,  who  otherwise  would  perhaps  have  never  learned  the  alphabet. 
And  in  addition  to  this,  children  in  attending  such  schools,  are  kept  from 
bad  associations;  and  by  this  means  many,  no  doubt,  have  been  saved  from 
wickedness  into  which  they  might  otherwise  have  fallen. 

This  sentiment  was  repeated  in  the  1860  Convention.  In  addi- 
tion it  was  asked  that  the  adults  participate  generally.  The 
committee  said:    "We  also  recommended  that  Bible  Classes  be 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION  217 

formed  in  every  church  for  mutual  improvement  and  general 
instruction." 

The  War  Between  the  States  was  a  barrier  to  progress  for  a 
decade.  But  in  1870  the  Committee  reported  gladly:  "We  are 
happy  to  know  that  many  schools  have  already  sprung  up  among 
our  churches  and  are  doing  a  good  work."  There  was  a  steady 
advance.  In  1871  it  was  reported:  "Addresses  were  delivered 
by  Bro.  J.  W.  Harper,  J.  T.  Walsh,  Jno.  R.  Winfield  and  J. 
Latham,  strongly  recommending  Lord's  Day  Schools  to  our 
brethren  as  important  auxiliaries  to  the  gospel,  provided  the 
right  kind  of  books  be  used.  We  rejoice  to  hear  that  so  many 
schools  are  carried  on  among  us ;  glad  to  see  much  interest  in 
this  subject." 

In  the  Annual  Meeting,  1872,  at  Kinston  definite  reports  came 
to  hand  for  the  first  time.  From  these  we  learn  that  the  first 
eight  Bible  Schools  known  among  Disciples  were :  Christian 
Prospect,  in  Onslow  County;  Saints'  Delight  and  Scuppernong, 
in  Washington ;  Bethel  and  Kinston,  in  Lenoir ;  Pleasant  Hill,  in 
Jones ;  Mill  Creek,  in  Johnston ;  and  Pantego,  in  Beaufort. 
Mill  Creek  with  enrollment  of  fifty  had  the  largest  number. 
Kinston  seems  to  have  had  the  largest  group  of  teachers  and  the 
most  extensive  library.    It  was  said : 

"Kinston  reports  a  fine  school,  superintended  by  xV.  J.  Loftin, 
assisted  by  our  excellent  Sisters,  Cynthia  and  Alice  Rountree, 
Jane  E.  Loftin,  Dibble  and  others,  whose  labor  of  love,  so  un- 
selfishly and  indefatigably  pursued,  deserves  this  slight  notice 
at  our  hands.  Number  of  pupils  about  forty.  Number  of  teach- 
ers, seven.    Number  of  volumes,  two  hundred." 

In  1873  new  Schools  were  reported  at  AVilson  and  Asheville, 
and  at  Salem  and  Farmville  in  Pitt  County,  and  at  Pleasant 
Grove  in  Sampson  County. 

In  1875  the  Committee  urged  more  aggressive  effort  as  fol- 
lows: 

We  heartily  endorse  the  principle  of  Lord's  Day  Schools  as  an  efficient 
and  scriptural  method  of  imparting  scriptural  knowledge. 

We  do  earnestly  recommend  that  all  of  our  preachers,  and  all  others 
who  have  an  interest  in  these  schools  to  use  their  influence  to  establish  them 
in  every  Congregation. 

That  while  there  has  been  much  done  in  this  particular  by  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  Churches  there  is  still  an  apparent  need  for  greater  exertion  on  the 
part  of  all. 


218  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Next  year  the  Committee  reported  "thriving  Schools"  in 
some  places.  They  recommended  literature  as  follows:  "As  a 
book  of  questions  for  beginners,  we  heartily  recommend  Sister 
Logan's  Bible  Questions,  sold  by  Chase  &  Hall,  Cincinnati,  Ohio; 
and,  also,  the  Christian  Mentor,  published  by  Brother  Isaac 
Errett,  180  Elm  Street,  Cincinnati,  Ohio." 

In  1877  they  reported: 

We  respectfully  recommend  to  this  Convention,  the  importance  of  urging 
upon  our  preachers  the  necessity  of  laying  this  matter  before  their  respec- 
tive congregations  without  delay,  making  the  subject  of  Lord's  Day  Schools 
a  specialty.  "We  believe  this  is  the  only  means  available  at  this  time  of 
awakening  the  Brotherhood  to  the  importance  of  immediate  action  and 
unremitting  effort  in  this  work.  This  work  must  be  begun  by  the  preachers, 
and  we  indulge  the  hope  that  each  one  will  proceed  at  once  to  organize  a 
school   in  each  congregation. 

In  the  Minutes  of  1879  appeared  the  first  totals.  Twenty-one 
Schools  were  listed,  having  seven  hundred  and  fifty-one  enroll- 
ment, with  one  hundred  and  sixteen  teachers. 

J.  L.  Winfield  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  in  1881.  They 
reported : 

The  cold  lethargy  that  pervades  our  schools  comes  to  a  large  extent 
from  a  want  of  better  system  and  order  in  our  churches.  We  can  have  no 
successful  schools  unless  they  are  cared  for  by  the  pastor  or  Evangelist. 
We  recommend  to  this  Convention  the  importance  of  organizing  and  putting 
in  operation  all  of  our  Sunday  School  forces,  by  calling  together  all  the 
friends  of  the  movement  in  a  Sunday  School  Convention.  We  must  organize 
and  draw  out  the  talent  of  our  teachers  and  superintendents,  and  this  can 
only  be  done  by  holding  annual  Sunday  School  Conventions. 

At  first  these  Conventions  were  held  separate  and  apart  from 
the  general  State  Convention,  but  at  Rountrees  in  1885  they 
began  meeting  together.  At  this  time  the  officers  for  the  ensuing 
year  were  elected  as  follows:  Dr.  H.  D.  Harper,  President;  C. 
W.  Howard,  Vice-President ;  W.  J.  Crumpler,  Recording  Secre- 
tary; and  H.  C.  Bowen,  Corresponding  Secretary.  A  Constitu- 
tion was  adopted  consisting  of  eight  articles  and  two  By-Laws. 
It  was  planned  to  employ  a  "Sunday  School  Evangelist,"  but 
the  funds  were  insufficient. 

In  1894,  the  need  of  missionary  Education  was  stressed  in  a 
section  of  the  adopted  report  as  follows:  "That  all  leaders  in 
Sunday  School  work  inform  themselves  regarding  missionary 
and  other  interests,  and  educate  all  up  to  an  intelligent  active 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION  219 

zeal. ' '  The  work  of  other  communions  was  recognized  in  section 
eight  of  this  report  as  follows: 

"That  we  should  take  part  in  the  international  system  of 
Sunday  School  Conventions,  as  they  promote  unity  among  God's 
people ;  and  that  we  use  the  international  series  of  lessons  as  the 
best  now  being  arranged  for  the  thorough  and  general  study  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures." 

By  1895  the  separate  Sunday  School  Convention  had  been 
discontinued.  They  requested  a  ''special  session,"  in  the  regu- 
lar State  Convention.  This  was  granted  and  thus  the  Conven- 
tion phase  of  the  Bible  Schools  has  since  remained. 

In  1910,  R.  V.  Hope,  pastor  of  Washington  Disciples,  was 
made  State  Bible  School  Superintendent,  in  which  office  he  con- 
tinued for  several  years.  At  this  time  also  it  was  planned  to 
sustain  a  Bible  School  "Specialist"  in  the  Southeastern  States 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Christian  Missionary  Soci- 
ety. This,  however,  was  not  realized  until  some  years  later. 
For  inspiration  and  promotion,  Institutes  were  projected  for 
various  centers  in  the  State.  These  were  to  be  Rallies  for  the 
State  Missionary  Service,  the  Bible  Schools,  and  the  Christian 
Woman's  Board  of  Missions. 

In  1915  the  first  annual  School  of  Methods  within  the  State 
was  held  at  Wilson.  At  this  time  various  Districts  joined  with 
the  Roanoke  District  in  engaging  Miss  Frances  Tuten,  of  Ed- 
ward, as  the  first  trained  Field  Worker  within  the  State  in  the 
Bible  School  service.  The  Front  Rank  Standard  in  effect,  for 
each  school,  required  grading  of  the  School,  Teacher  Training 
Class,  organized  classes,  temperance  instruction,  interest  in  evan- 
gelization,  and  missionary  teaching. 

In  1917,  Homer  F.  Cooke  became  the  first  Superintendent  of 
Religious  Education  for  the  Disciples  in  the  Southeastern  States. 
He  made  his  headquarters  in  Jacksonville,  Florida.  In  1919 
he  was  succeeded  by  0.  A.  Smith,  with  same  headquarters.  He 
served  until  1920  when  E.  B.  Quick  came  as  his  successor  with 
office  in  Atlanta,  Georgia.  These  leaders  have  imparted  new 
life  to  the  Bible  Schools  in  this  area.  In  heart-to-heart  contact 
with  problems  of  the  local  field  they  have  heartened  the  lay 
leadership.  Their  promotion  of,  and  service  in,  Institutes, 
Young  People's  Conferences,  Leadership  Training  Schools, 
Schools    of    Methods,    Missionary    Conferences,    and    Vacation 


220  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Church  Schools,  have  been  of  inspirational  help  to  numerous 
local  leaders.  Many  of  the  Schools  have  been  led  to  a  high 
morale. 

Progress  in  Religious  Education  has  called  for  radical  de- 
partures in  Church  architecture.  The  impossibility  of  conduct- 
ing a  modern  departmentalized  Bible  School  in  an  old-fashioned, 
single-room  church  auditorium  appeared  at  a  glance.  Thus 
many  church  structures  have  been  enlarged  with  Bible  School 
rooms,  or  rebuilt  outright  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  present,  This 
building  program  is  likely  to  continue  on  a  larger  scale. 

In  recreational  facilities  for  her  young  people  the  church  as 
such  until  recent  years  did  practically  nothing.  In  1924,  the 
Kinston  Bible  School  of  the  the  Disciples  was  faced  with  a  great 
opportunity  in  this  field.  They  arose  to  the  occasion  by  erect- 
ing a  separate  educational  and  recreational  plant  at  relatively 
large  expense.  They  dedicated  it  in  November  of  that  year. 
This  is  representative  of  the  Disciples'  genius  in  meeting  such 
situations,  and  is  indicative  we  think  of  extensive  similar  achieve- 
ments in  the  days  ahead.  The  Kinston  Free  Press  described  it 
thus: 

The  new  building,  which  was  dedicated  Sunday,  Nov.  23,  1924,  gives 
to  the  Gordon  Street  Church  of  Christ,  one  of  the  most  modern  and  com- 
plete plants  in  the  country.  It  is  built  for  recreational  as  well  as  educa- 
tional purposes,  having  a  fine  gymnasium,  equipped  with  general  apparatus, 
and  for  basket-ball  and  other  athletic  contests,  and  a  bowling  alley.  Three 
departments  of  the  Bible  School  will  be  cared  for  in  the  new  building. 
The  Beginners  have  a  commodious,  welldighted  room  on  the  ground  floor, 
where  100  children  can  be  accommodated  easily.  There  is  a  cradle-roll 
room  adjoining.  In  another  place  on  the  ground  floor  will  be  the  Primary 
Department,  with  a  nice  auditorium  space  and  two  individual  classrooms. 
The  other  classes  will  be  taken  care  of  in  the  gymnasium  room.  On  the 
second  floor  the  Junior  Department  has  an  assembly  room  and  eleven  class- 
rooms. The  building  is  connected  by  a  passageway  with  the  main  building. 
Cement  walks  from  the  various  entrances  make  either  structure  easily  ac- 
cessible from  the  other.  The  outward  construction  is  similar  to  the  main 
building,  a  fac-simile  brick  being  used.  *  *  *  Mr.  A.  F.  Wickes,  expert 
church  architect,  with  the  Church  Erection  Department  of  the  United  Chris- 
tian Missionary  Society,  was  a  consulting  architect.  The  building  will  be 
in  charge  of  Freeman  Heath,  a  trained  director  of  religious  education,  who 
will  give  his  full  time  to  the  religious  educational  department  and  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  young  people  of  the  Church. 

Speaking  editorially  of  this  achievement  as  a  community  as- 
set the  Free  Press  further  said: 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION  221 

The  building  is  in  accord  with  the  most  modern  thought  in  reference  to 
the  religious  education  of  the  young  people  of  the  church.  It  is  a  com- 
bination of  recreational  and  educational  features.  Some  misunderstand- 
ing has  been  abroad  in  reference  to  the  recreational  feature,  particularly 
the  bowling  alley.  Some  criticism  has  been  heard  from  those  who  were 
not  acquainted  with  the  real  object  of  this  innovation.  The  Free  Press  is 
confident,  however,  that  any  such  criticism  will  melt  with  the  acquaintance 
and  familiarity  with  the  objects  of  the  gymnasium  and  recreational  fea- 
tures of  the  building. 

This  building  supplies  a  long-felt  need  in  the  community.  There  is  no 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  or  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work  here.  Both  of  these  agencies  supply 
recreational  and  amusement  features,  including  bowling  alleys,  pool  tables, 
gymnasium  apparatus,  under  wholesome  and  uplifting  environment  and 
supervision.  While  by  the  very  nature  of  things  the  new  building  of  the 
Christian  Church  cannot  supply  the  entire  need  of  the  community,  it  is  felt 
by  the  church  leaders  that  there  will  be  room  for  at  least  a  part  of  the 
community's  young  life  to  share  in  the  benefits  aside  from  the  actual  mem- 
bership. Plans  looking  to  this  end  will  be  worked  out  as  speedily  as  pos- 
sible, and  assurance  has  been  given  by  Dr.  Cory  and  other  church  leaders 
that  the  facilities  of  the  building  will  be  given  to  the  community  as  far  as 
it  is  possible  for  them  to  reach. 

The  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  was  organized 
February  2,  1881.  It  has  a  marvelous  record  for  nearly  a  half 
century  in  the  training  of  young  people  in  Christian  service. 
Disciples  have  had  a  large  part  in  the  developing  of  this  Inter- 
national organization. 

By  the  Spring  of  1897  there  were  but  two  Christian  En- 
deavor Societies  among  North  Carolina  Disciples.  At  that  time 
the  cause  was  promoted  in  the  field  by  Malcolmson  Pittman, 
pastor  of  the  Disciples  at  Washington.  He  added  ten  Societies. 
They  were  given  an  evening  session  in  the  Disciples'  State  Con- 
vention at  Pantego,  on  October  27,  1897.  At  that  meeting  Pitt- 
man  was  elected  State  Superintendent  of  Christian  Endeavor 
for  the  Disciples,  and  Miss  Jane  L.  Burgess,  was  elected  Secre- 
tary and  Treasurer.  Pittman  reported  that  Disciples  ranked 
third  in  Christian  Endeavor  among  the  religious  bodies  of  the 
State  with  five  hundred  and  forty-seven  members.  They  also  at 
that  time  ranked  third  in  America  with  three  thousand,  six  hun- 
dred and  sixty  Societies.  Their  twelve  Societies  in  North  Caro- 
lina were  in  the  churches  of  Washington,  Beaver  Dam,  Kinston, 
Athens  Chapel,  Middleton,  New  Bern,  Pantego,  Pleasant  Hill, 
Williamston,  Saints  Delight,  St.  Clairs  Creek  and  Rountrees. 
The  largest  of  these  was  at  Washington,  with  one  hundred  and 


222  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

sixty  members.  Washington  was  also  the  "State  Banner  So- 
ciety" in  North  Carolina,  in  membership  in  the  entire  Chris- 
tian Endeavor  Movement,  within  the  State. 

W.  J.  Grumpier  of  Washington  was  made  that  year  a  member 
of  the  State  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  State 
Union,  the  first  Disciple  to  function  in  that  capacity. 

A  resolution  adopted  in  the  Convention  of  1897  was  as  fol- 
lows: 

Whereas  the  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  need  a  special  object  of  work 
before   them, 

Resolved,  That  each  society  represented  in  this  convention  shall  set 
apart  a  special  day  and  observe  the  same  in  the  interest  of  Carolina 
Christian  College.  That  a  special  self-sacrifice  offering  be  made  on  the 
day  to  liquidate  the  mortgage  on  that  institution. 

We  further  recommend  that  Washington 's  birthday,  February  22,  1898, 
be  set  apart  by  consecration  and  prayer,  and  that  every  effort  be  made 
to  perfect  a  large  and  liberal  contribution  to  this  most  laudable  insti- 
tution. 

Notes 

stated  in  the  old   Clerk's   record   of  Kinston   Church. 


Chapter  XXIV 

COLORED  DISCIPLES 

During  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  the  Disciples  in  the 
State,  a  slave  had  the  privilege  of  the  same  local  church  with 
his  master.  His  position  in  the  worship  was  ordinarily  segre- 
gated. He  sat  in  the  "balcony,"  or  the  "shed,"  or  in  a  rear 
section  of  the  auditorium,  as  required.  The  slaves  were  listed 
separately  on  the  church  roll.  The  owners'  names  were  some- 
times given  in  parentheses.  Thus  we  found  the  colored  members 
of  the  Kinston  Church  of  Christ  registered  as  follows  in  1850  :* 
"Male:  Jack  (Dunn's),  Dick  (Dunn's),  Bunny  (Loftin's), 
Tony,  (Parrott's),  Mingo  (Desmond's),  Jack  Lovick,  Anderson 
(free,  colored). 

"Female:  Olive  (Loftin's),  Patsy  (Loftin's),  Nancy,  (Roun- 
tree's),  Penny  (Taylor's),  Priscilla  (Dunn's),  Mary  (Gresh- 
am's),  Hanna  (Parrott's),  Ella  (Parrott's),  Lally  (Dunn's)." 

Colored  candidates  for  admission  into  the  church  were  re- 
ceived without  distinction.  Evidence  of  the  general  practice  is 
found  in  the  Clerk's  record  of  Oak  Grove  Church  in  Pitt 
County.  Fourth  Lord's  Day  in  September,  1849  was  their 
"preaching  Sunday."  Dr.  John  A.  Leggett  was  the  minister. 
He  received  a  white  candidate  for  baptism.  This  occasioned  the 
preacher's  return  on  Lord's  Day,  October  7.  At  the  bap- 
tising that  day  another  white  person  confessed  Christ,  and  the 
clerk  added;  "Also  two  men  of  Culler,  one  by  the  name  of  Sip 
and  the  other  by  the  name  of  Isaac  come  forward  and  after 
examination  of  their  faith  in  Christ  was  received  members  in  to 
this  church. ' ' 

The  administration  of  discipline  was  constant  in  the  business 
meetings  of  the  early  churches.  It  appeared  that  the  Moderator 
sometimes  used  slaves  to  approach  another  slave  whose  exclusion, 
or  reclamation  by  the  church  was  pending.  In  the  old  Concord 
(Pantego)  Church  record  we  found  an  instance  of  this.  It  was 
on  the  First  Lord's  Day  in  March,  1844.  The  minute  reads: 
"On  motion  agreed  that  Brothers  Eli,  Jerry,  and  Prince 
(slaves),  wait   on  Bro.   Simon    (slave)    to  ascertain   from  him 


224  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

whether  the  reports  in  circulation  about  his  stealing  are  true, 
and  report  at  our  April  meeting. ' ' 

When  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  became  effective  there 
were  great  changes  in  the  life  of  the  colored  people.  They  were 
henceforth  to  be  free  and  independent  in  their  religious  develop- 
ment. The  white  Disciples  recognizing  this,  passed  the  follow- 
ing resolution  in  their  Annual  State  Meeting,  1868 : 

"Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  churches  composing 
this  Conference,  that  where  they  have  a  sufficient  number  of  col- 
ored members  to  form  an  independent  organization,  they  allow 
them  to  do  so,  if  they  desire  it,  by  giving  them  letters  of  dis- 
mission for  that  purpose.  That  we  deeply  sympathize  with  the 
colored  people  with  reference  to  their  spiritual  welfare,  and 
that  we  willingly  teach  them  the  gospel  of  Christ  in  its  purity 
when  opportunity  admits." 

In  the  next  annual  Meeting  the  colored  Disciples  contributed 
a  small  sum  for  the  printing  of  Minutes  through  J.  R.  Win- 
field.  Copies  of  the  Minutes  were  to  be  forwarded  to  them.  It 
was  agreed: 

"That  the  colored  brethren  be  advised  to  form  a  separate 
conference,  and  that  Elders  A.  J.  Battle,  H.  D.  Cason,  J.  R. 
Winfield,  Henry  Gurganus,  and  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh  be  appointed 
to  confer  with,  and  assist  them  in  their  organization." 

The  Minutes  of  1870  report : 

"Having  heard  with  pleasure  that  the  colored  disciples  have 
partially  at  least  succeeded  in  organizing  their  Conference,  we 
bid  them  God  speed. 

"On  motion,  Elders  J.  B.  Respess,  J.  R.  Winfield  and  S.  L. 
Davis  were  appointed  to  meet  them  in  their  next  conference, 
and  assist  them  in  a  perfect  organization ;  and  we  send  them  one 
hundred  copies  of  the  minutes  for  their  churches." 

By  1872  they  were  ready  to  form  a  state  organization  to 
function  independently.  White  Disciples  of  the  State  met  two 
weeks  earlier  than  the  proposed  meeting  of  colored  Disciples. 
Thus  two  colored  representatives  came  to  get  information  and 
inspiration  to  help  with  their  first  annual  meeting.  The  Minutes 
read : 

"On  motion,  agreed  the  two  colored  delegates  be  assigned 
seats  in  the  house,  for  the  purpose  of  learning  how  to  conduct 
their  own  Annual  Meetings;  and  that  A.  C.  Hart,  J.  H.  Foy, 


Josephus   Latham,   1828-1S 


John  Bunyan  Respess,  1833-1909 


COLORED   DISCIPLES  225 

and  S.  H.  Rountree  be  appointed  delegates  to  the  colored  An- 
nual Meeting,  to  be  held  at  Southwest,  Lenoir  County,  on 
Thursday  before  the  4th  Lord's  Day  in  October,  1872."  In  the 
same  Convention  an  offering  was  made  to  aid  colored  Disciples 
in  procuring  hymn  books. 

Early  in  1872,  A.  C.  Hart  had  been  sent  as  an  evangelist  to 
the  colored  people,  by  the  Evangelizing  Committee  of  the  Hook- 
erton  District.2  He  preached  in  their  Churches  and  ordained 
ministers,  elders  and  deacons  with  the  assistance  of  Joseph  H. 
Foy  and  Samuel  Rountree.  In  his  report  he  said  of  the  colored 
Disciples:  "Those  Brethren  manifest  a  great  zeal  for  the  Cause 
of  Christ  and  seem  to  be  very  anxious  to  know  the  truth."  It 
was  "resolved"  in  the  next  Hookerton  Union  Meeting:  "That 
the  action  of  the  Evangelical  Committee  in  appointing  Bro.  A. 
C.  Hart,  to  visit  some  Colored  Baptist  Churches  to  instruct 
them  in  the  way  of  the  Lord  more  perfectly  meets  our  hearty 
appreciation. ' ' 

In  the  Watch  Tower  of  November,  1873,  we  found  the  im- 
pressions of  a  "visitor"  to  the  second  Annual  Meeting  of  Col- 
ored Disciples.     He  wrote  :3 

The  messengers  and  ministers  of  the  colored  Disciples  of  Christ  in 
North  Carolina,  met  with  the  congregation  at  Stony  Creek  meeting  house, 
Lenoir  County,  on  Thursday  before  the  4th  Lord's  Day  in  October. 
Brother  A.  C.  Hart,  was  with  them  for  a  day  or  two,  and  materially 
aided  them  by  his  suggestions  in  the  work  of  organization.  Brother 
Isaac  Chestnutt,  a  young  but  able  brother,  preached  for  the  Convention 
on  Saturday.  On  Lord's  Day,  Elder  Joseph  H.  Foy,  of  Kinston,  also  a 
delegate  from  the  Hookerton  Convention,  attended  the  Session  of  the 
Conference,  and  preached  to  a  large  and  interested  audience  on  the  ra- 
tionale of  conversion.  There  was  on  this  day  a  number  of  the  white 
brethren  present.  There  were  two  other  sermons  on  this  day — besides 
Elder  Foy's.  One  from  Bro.  Samuel  Hood,  (colored)  of  Sampson,  showed 
an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  New  Testament,  and  was  unanimously 
regarded  as  an  able  effort.  At  times  it  was  ruggedly  eloquent,  and  was  al- 
together a  surprise  and  a  pleasant  one  to  the  white  preachers  and  brethren 
present,  who  were  fearful  that  the  colored  ministers  were  not  qualified  to 
give  sound  instruction  to  their  charges.  We  listened  to  remarks,  exegetieal 
and  hortatory,  that  were  really  good,  and  calculated  to  effect  good.  A 
young  minister  from  Johnston  county,  Chestnutt  by  name,  Allen  Chestnutt, 
I  believe,  closed  the  exercises  in  a  feeling  farewell  address  that  brought 
tears  from  the  eyes  of  white  and  black  auditors.  Before  dispersing,  the 
white  preachers  went  forward  to  the  public  stand  and  gave  the  hand  of 
fellowship  and  brotherly  recognition   to  the  colored  ministers  present — an 


226  NORTH    CAROLINA  DISCIPLES   OF   CHRIST 

example  that  was  followed  by  several  private  members  of  high  social  po- 
sition who  were  among  the  audience.  The  effect  on  the  colored  people 
was  good — and  will  settle  them  more  firmly  in  the  faith. 

We  have  been  disposed  to  regard  the  negro  as  by  nature  so  superstitious 
as  to  be  really  inaccessible  to  the  simple  but  powerful  motives  presented  in 
the  gospel.  We  have  been  inclined  to  look  upon  him  as  one  constitutionally 
dependent  upon  psychological  phenomena  for  all  religious  hope;  but  this  is 
not  true.  We  have  heard  the  old  Jerusalem  Gospel  effectively  presented, 
and  the  word  of  God  elevated  above  dreams,  voices  or  other  occult  results 
of  mesmeric  excitement  or  "unconscious  cerebration."  The  difference  be- 
tween works  as  means  of  procurement  and  works  as  means  of  enjoyment 
appeared  to  be  clearly  apprehended.  Also,  the  difference  between  baptismal 
regeneration  (i.e.,  regeneration  in  baptism  of  one  without  true  trustful 
faith  in  Christ  as  his  personal  Savior  and  unfeigned  repentance),  and 
"baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins  to  a  penitent  believer,"  was  held  up 
lucidly  and  logically  presented.  We  bid  our  colored  brethren  God-speed. 
This,  their  Second  Conference,  was  largely  attended  and  was  a  striking  suc- 
cess throughout,  as  reference  to  their  minutes  will  clearly  show.  They  had 
seven  ministers  with  them — several  of  whom  are  men  of  some  culture — 
able  to  read  and  write,  and  all  of  excellent  repute  in  their  several  commu- 
nities. 

I  was  affected  by  their  touching  allusions  in  public  exercises  to  the  white 
brethren,  who  pitying  their  ignorance  and  liableness  to  delusion  had  led 
them  to  the  sure  support  of  God  's  immutable  truth — the  Living  Oracles  of 
the  Most  High. 

One  of  them  passed  an  eulogium  upon  our  dear  brother  Harper,  of  which 
any  man  might  well  be  proud.  He  spoke  of  the  social  prejudices  awakened 
by  designing  persons  against  Bro.  Harper,  because  in  times  of  political 
rancor,  he  had  dared  to  disregard  political  fiats  and  had  spoken  the  word 
of  God  to  the  poor  unlettered  African.  ' '  Yes, ' '  said  the  speaker,  ' '  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  in  his  heart,  'and  the  living  word  upon  his  tongue,  he  took 
me  by  the  hand  and  gently  led  me  to  Christ." 

One  man  said  to  me,  as  we  were  about  to  leave,  "I  shall  always  love 
brother  Harper. ' '     And  my  heart  responded.     Amen ! 

At  this  time  they  reported  a  total  membership  of  349.  There 
were  but  six  churches  as  follows :  Southwest,  Wine  Swamp, 
Mosely  Creek,  and  Stony  Creek,  in  Lenoir  County;  Benton- 
ville  in  Johnson  County;  and  Piney  Green  in  Sampson  County. 
They  had  twelve  preachers.4  Ten  of  these  were  in  Kinston  or 
vicinity  as  follows :  Alfred  Lovick,  Yancy  Porter,  Henry  Jones, 
Peter  Green,  William  Stanley,  Demas  Hargett,  M.  P.  Hargett, 
Edward  Hill,  Tony  Davis,  and  Darry  Brock.  The  remaining 
two  were,  Allen  Chestnutt  of  Bentonville,  and  Samuel  Hood  of 
Giddensville. 


COLORED   DISCIPLES  227 

Colored  Disciples  retained  ceremonial  feet  washing  and  quar- 
terly communion  as  a  heritage  from  the  Free  Will  Baptists. 
Some  white  Disciples  in  the  early  Seventies  were  in  favor  of 
these  practices,  but  changed  their  belief  later.  The  white  leaders 
sent  to  teach  colored  Disciples  in  that  period  did  not  stress  effec- 
tively the  discontinuance  of  these  customs.  Growth  among  them 
was  slow,  due  largely  to  unfavorable  social,  and  economic  condi- 
tions. That  the  whites  felt  their  moral  responsibility  toward 
them  was  shown  in  a  resolution  introduced  in  their  State  Con- 
vention of  1890.    It  follows : 

"Whereas,  there  are  about  2,000  colored  Disciples  in  North 
Carolina,  and  they  need  the  assistance  of  the  North  Carolina 
Christian  Missionary  Convention. 

"Resolved  that  this  Convention  appoint  three  brethren  to 
assist  them  in  managing  their  Convention  and  superintend  the 
publication  of  their  proceedings;  and  that  we  send  them  100 
copies  of  the  minutes." 

They  had  an  unfailing  friend  as  shown  by  the  following  min- 
ute from  the  white  Disciples'  Convention  of  1894.     It  reads: 

Bro.  J.  J.  Harper  spoke  in  behalf  of  the  colored  Disciples ;  said  he  had 
attended  their  Convention  and  assisted  them  in  their  work.  He  thought 
there  were  indications  of  improvement  in  the  manner  of  conducting  the 
business  of  their  annual  sessions.  He  asked  that  fraternal  delegates  from 
this  Convention  be  appointed  by  the  President  to  meet  with  the  colored 
Disciples  in  their  Annual  Convention  to  be  held  at  Washington  on  Wednes- 
day before  the  3rd  Lord's  day  in  October,  1895.  The  President  appointed 
the  following:    J.  L.  Burns,  J.  T.  Davis,  and  D.  W.  Davis. 

Colored  Disciples  in  the  Western  counties  had  their  rise 
largely  under  leadership  from  Southwest  Virginia.  They  do  not 
have  the  old  customs  in  vogue  among  those  of  their  color  in  East- 
ern North  Carolina.  They  are  numerous  in  Forsythe  and  Rock- 
ingham Counties,  and  have  churches  in  two  other  counties ;  Guil- 
ford, and  Wilkes.  The  school  of  this  area  is  at  Martinsville, 
Virginia.  It  is  supported  and  supervised  by  the  United  Chris- 
tian Missionary  Society.  This  Society  has  also  built  up  a  large 
Negro  School  at  Edwards,  Mississippi.  The  services  of  this 
School  have  been  of  far  reaching  importance.  At  its  head,  is  a 
white  Disciple,  J.  B.  Lehman.  He  has  done  a  notably  construc- 
tive work  in  superintending  all  work  of  Negro  Disciples  in  the 
Sou+h.    In  the  western  counties  of  North  Carolina  he  has  been 


228  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

free  to  lead  them.  In  the  East,  however,  because  of  the  in- 
herited differences  pointed  out,  his  helpfulness  has  been  largely 
circumscribed. 

The  group  in  Eastern  North  Carolina  is  now  numbered  of- 
ficially at  about  seven  thousand.  It  is  known,  however,  that 
there  are  about  as  many  more,  not  included  in  the  official  regis- 
ter. They  are  divided  into  ' '  District  Assemblies, ' '  of  which  the 
Goldsboro-Raleigh  is  the  most  resourceful.  They  have  a  cen- 
tralized government  under  seven  councilmen.  One  of  these  is 
Chief.  Committees  which  ordinarily  function  in  their  Annual 
Assembly  Sessions  are  as  follows:5  Order  of  Business,  Bible 
Schools,  Grievances,  Examination  for  Ordination,  Ministerial 
Character,  Eulogy,  Finance,  and  Temperance.  Terms  used  in 
submitting  and  acting  on  a  motion  are  as  follows:  A  brother 
says,  "I  propose,  etc.";  another  says,  "I  agree."  If  after  dis- 
cussion it  is  adopted  by  majority  vote,  it  is  recorded  in  their 
Minutes  as  "proposed  and  agreed." 

They  own  and  control  Goldsboro  Christian  Institute.  This  is 
a  training  school  for  colored  Disciples.  It  has  a  sixteen  acre 
Campus  on  the  Northern  edge  of  G-oldsboro  with  two  buildings. 
G.  Calvin  Campbell,  colored  native  of  Beaufort  County,  North 
Carolina,  trained  in  Chicago  University,  has  presided  in  recent 
years.  This  is  under  a  "Trustee  Board,"  of  the  Goldsboro- 
Raleigh  District  Assembly. 

Instead  of  a  Constitution,  the  Assembly  has  a  list  of  standing 
"Resolutions."  These  have  accumulated  out  of  their  experience 
through  the  years,  and  serve  them  as  expediency  requires.  Some 
of  the  more  interesting  of  these  "Resolutions"  now  in  force  are 
as  follows  :6 
**«##***♦ 

4.  No  man,  as  a  preacher  with  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  shall  be  allowed 
to  mistreat  his  wife,  by  staying  away  from  her  longer  than  his  business 
demands.  Any  preacher  with  the  Disciples  that  is  married  and  will  go  away 
from  home  and  deny  having  his  wife,  his  license  shall  be  revoked  at  once. 
They  must  feed  their  wives  and  clothe  them  and  prepare  a  place  for  them 
to  stay.  If  there  shall  arise  any  complaint  against  any  minister  belonging 
with  the  Disciples  the  seven  councilmen  shall  be  notified  and  they  shall  in- 
vestigate the  matter  and  if  they  find  the  complaint  true  against  him,  he 
shall  be  stopped  until  he  gets  right. 


COLORED   DISCIPLES  229 

7.  No  brother  with  the  Disciples  shall  be  set  apart  to  preach  unless  he 
has   a  normal  education,   good   morals   and   his   Christian   character   above 

reproach. 

********* 

13.  Any  man  coming  from  the  denominations,  shall  not  be  set  apart  to 
preach  for  the  Disciples  until  he  understands  the  gospel  as  it  is  taught  by 
the  Disciples. 

********* 

20.  That  no  preacher  shall  be  found  laying  around  the  congregation  of 
another  preacher. 

********* 

22.  In  towns  of  five  thousand  inhabitants  no  preacher  is  allowed  to 
build  a  new  church  nearer  an  old  church  than  one  mile,  and  in  the  country 
not  nearer  than  four  miles. 

********* 

29.  No  member  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  shall  leave  his  wife  except  for 
the  cause  of  fornication. 

********* 

38.  No  church  shall  have  the  power  to  run  two  or  three  preachers  at  the 
same  time  against  former  pastor,  and  the  pastor  in  charge  shall  have  the 
first  vote,  and  if  the  majority  is  against  him  then  he  is  out.  Then  said 
church  can  vote  for  any  other  preacher. 

********* 

44.  No  preacher  shall  have  the  power  to  pastor  more  than  four  churches. 

********* 

47.  That  all  women  preachers  among  the  Disciples  shall  have  a  pastor 
and  shall  be  subject  to  their  pastor  in  regards  to  her  Mission  or  Church. 
********* 

50.  Be  it  Resolved,  That  there  shall  be  a  quorum  of  sermons:  1st.  An 
Educational  sermon;  2nd.  Temperance  sermon;  3rd.  A  Doctrinal  sermon, 
preached  at  each  Assembly  and  the  preachers  appointed  to  preach  them 
from  one  Assembly,  to  the  other. 

Notes 

J01d  Clerk's  record,  Kinston  Church.  :Minutes,  Hookerton  District  Con- 
vention, page  38  of  Manuscript.  This  was  secured  for  the  Archives  from 
the  old  home  of  Dr.  Frank  W.  Dixon.  3Watch  Tower,  Nov.  1873,  pages  65, 
66.  ^American  Independent  Monthly  and  Bible  Thinker,  March,  1875,  page 
48.     ^Minutes  of  Goldsboro-Raleigrh  District  Assembly  of  1920  and  1924.    6Ibid. 


Chapter  XXV 

IDEALS  AND  OUTLOOK 

In  the  teaching  service  of  the  Disciples  a  change  of  emphasis 
was  proper  and  inevitable.  Their  movement  was  born  of  a 
pure  desire  to  help  answer  the  prayer  of  Christ  for  the  union 
of  all  His  people.  They  conceived  that  this  could  be  realized 
only  if  the  Bible  alone  were  recognized  as  the  standard  of  faith 
which  all  Christians  might  adopt  without  offense  of  mind  or 
conscience.  They  emerged  as  a  separate  Communion  by  reason 
of  intense  opposition.  Thomas  Campbell's  ideals  of  Christian 
union  were  an  age  ahead  of  his  day.  By  stern  necessity  suc- 
ceeding pioneers  adapted  these  to  denominational  means.  Thus 
grew  the  Disciple  Movement. 

When  the  sin  of  division  shall  have  disappeared,  God's  people 
will  again  appear  wholly  undenominational.  This  indeed  they 
must  be  in  spirit  if  they  are  truly  His  at  any  time.  It  was  a 
denominational  world  in  which  the  Disciples  lived.  They  were 
subjected  to  all  that  this  implied.  Their  principles  would  not 
bless  the  world  save  as  in  the  grace  of  God  they  fought,  lived, 
and  died  for  them. 

This  necessitated,  at  first,  a  polemical  pulpit,  press,  and  forum. 
As  the  Disciples  served,  however,  they  were  impressed  with  that 
which  was  good  in  their  neighbors.  This  candor  and  open- 
mindedness  to  all  truth  has  saved  representative  Disciples  from 
becoming  a  sect.  Much  that  they  fought  for  has  become  a  reality 
in  surrounding  communions.  Disciples  have  appropriated  like- 
wise something  of  the  zeal  and  self-sacrifice  of  Methodists,  the 
piety  of  Presbyterians,  the  loyalty  of  Baptists,  the  esthetics  in 
worship  of  Episcopalians,  and  attention  to  child  culture  of 
Roman  Catholics.  If  the  emphasis  in  the  Disciples'  message  has 
shifted  it  is  because  they  have  lived  in  a  changing  world.  They 
are  progressive.  This  largest  communion  of  American  origin 
has  had  the  genius  of  America  in  its  development. 

As  the  North  Carolina  Disciples  approached  the  Golden  Ju- 
bilee of  their  State  Missionary  service  they  conceived  a  slogan.1 
It  was :  ' '  The  church  exalting  Christ ;  the  ministry  serving 
Christ ;  the  Bible  School  teaching  Christ ;  the  membership  sacri- 

230 


IDEALS    AND    OUTLOOK  231 

firing  for  Christ."  This  accorded  fully  with  the  leading  historic 
ideal  of  the  Disciples — "The  Preeminence  of  Christ." 

Concretely,  it  was  projected  that  in  every  Church,  there  be 
established  weekly  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper;  a  soul- 
winning  campaign  augmenting  the  membership  to  thirty  thou- 
sand ;  a  Gospel  Ministry  in  every  church ;  and  the  placing  of  a 
Christian  Journal  in  every  Disciple  home. 

The  goal  was  a  ministry,  trained  and  consecrated;  supported 
by  adequate  salaries,  and  extended  in  longer  pastorates ;  serving 
with  a  renewed  emphasis  of  the  Disciples'  historical  and  Biblical 
position ;  and  zealous  in  the  enlistment  of  ministerial  recruits, 
that  North  Carolina  might  supply  her  quota  to  the  ministry  and 
mission  fields. 

The  aim  was  that  the  Bible  School  attendance  in  1927  might 
be  eighteen  thousand;  with  every  church  supporting  a  Bible 
School ;  adequate  teacher-training ;  and  an  adequate  program 
for  service  for  young  people  in  every  church. 

The  ideals  for  the  membership  were :  that  the  members  might 
be  trained  and  inspired  for  real  stewardship ;  that  old  Church 
debts  might  be  paid  and  new  advances  effected;  and  that  an 
adequate  budget  be  provided  for  missions,  benevolence  and  edu- 
cation. 

Many  Disciples  in  North  Carolina  have  continuously  broken 
with  an  outstanding  practice  of  representative  Disciples  in  that 
they  observe  the  Lord's  Supper  only  on  the  Lord's  Day  when 
their  minister  is  present.  With  many  this  is  once  a  month. 
However,  since  there  has  been  a  gradual  increase  in  the  number 
of  Churches  with  full-time  ministry,  this  deficiency  is  growing 
less.  And  as  this  intensive  ministry  grows  the  situation  bids 
fair  to  improve  constantly. 

There  is  crying  need  for  a  more  reverent  and  spiritual  wor- 
ship in  some  churches.  This  need  will  be  met  where  a  leader- 
ship is  evolved,  capable  of  cultivating  a  strong  sense  of  reverence 
toward  God  in  buildings  dedicated  to  Him,  and  infusing  into 
the  worship  a  dominant  spiritual  tone.  Historically  the  pulpit 
has  been  unduly  exalted  in  the  orientation  of  Disciples.  They 
will  have  come  to  a  new  day  when  in  practice  their  souls  will 
be  fed  by  the  impressive  Bible  reading,  the  singing  of  "spiritual 
songs,"  the  praying  which  follows  the  leader  unanimously  to 
the  throne  of  Grace,  the  worshipful  observance  of  the  Lord's 


232  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Supper,  the  cheerful  and  liberal  offering,  and  the  purely  rever- 
ent atmosphere  which  envelops  the  whole,  quite  as  well  as  by  the 
sermon  which  fits  into  this  order  of  service.  There  are  many 
indications  that  the  Disciples  are  in  the  dawn  of  this  new  day. 

The  acquirement  of  Atlantic  Christian  College  marked  a  new 
epoch  for  North  Carolina  Disciples.  During  this  quarter  cen- 
tury Disciples  within  the  State  increased  in  number  two  hun- 
dred per  cent.  With  the  promise  of  substantial  increment  in 
endowment,  and  means  for  additional  equipment,  her  future 
service  seems  assured.  The  ministry  has  constantly  improved 
to  meet  the  growing  needs.  Yet  the  demand  ever  grows  for  a 
leadership  which  shall  not  only  be  trained  but  consecrated  to 
the  task.  The  local  College  at  its  best  can  but  partially  supply 
this  demand.  Ministers  must  come  from  other  States.  Tradi- 
tionally, there  was  a  tacit  provincialism,  once  prevalent,  which 
was  peculiarly  prejudicial  to  these  "foreigners."  There  is  no 
evidence  today,  however,  that  North  Carolina  Disciples  have 
ever  been  more  provincial  than  citizens  of  other  States.  It  is 
to  be  remembered  that  Andrew  Jackson,  James  K.  Polk,  and 
Andrew  Johnson  were  born  on  North  Carolina  soil.  Not  one  of 
them  made  his  home  in  his  native  State  when  he  went  to  the 
White  House.  If  North  Carolina  has  given  of  her  best  to  other 
States,  she  has  every  right  to  expect  that  other  States  may  give 
of  their  best  to  the  service  of  the  "Old  North  State." 

The  Disciple  ministry  cannot  forget  the  price  which  the  fa- 
thers have  freely  paid  for  the  privileges  and  opportunities  en- 
joyed by  Disciples  today.  They  will  not  despise  this  heritage. 
They  will  ever  be  thrilled  by  it.  They  will  seek  to  glorify  God 
in  it.  They  are  confident  that  the  world  greatly  needs  loyalty 
to  Christ,  the  "One  Shepherd,"  and  the  simple,  whole-souled, 
inclusive  democracy  of  His  "One  flock,"  which  is  the  heart  of 
the  Disciples'  Plea. 

It  appears  that  the  ministry  will  be  better  supported.  Sev- 
eral years  ago  a  student  preacher  was  not  paid  enough  for  a 
certain  week  end's  ministry  to  cover  his  railway  fare.  He  wept. 
His  tears  were  not  unmanly.  Kecently  this  occurred  again  in 
distress  at  insufficient  support  on  the  part  of  a  located  mission- 
ary in  an  important  city  field.  For  the  sake  of  effectiveness 
Disciples  are  changing  this.  Not  that  they  are  to  be  denied  a 
sacrificial  leadership,  but  that  they  will  maintain  an  effective 


IDEALS    AND   OUTLOOK  233 

leadership.  The  pension  plan  for  the  ministry  calling  for  a  fund 
of  eight  millions  of  dollars  will  again  plumb  the  depths  of  Dis- 
ciple liberality,  as  did  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement.  Then 
the  ministry  will  have  dignity  and  security  in  its  age,  as  it  had 
enthusiasm  and  aggressiveness  in  its  youth.  This  will  be  good, 
too,  for  a  brotherhood  having  material  resources  beyond  the 
dreams  of  the  fathers. 

Edwin  A.  Alderman,  one  of  the  greatest  of  living  North  Caro- 
linians, once  said  in  effect  that  of  all  the  audiences  in  the  world, 
in  his  experience,  an  average  North  Carolina  audience  was  the 
most  coldly  appraising  one  toward  the  speaker.  However,  this 
may  be,  it  is  a  certain  fact  that  representative  people  of  this 
State  demand  quality  in  their  ministry.  Leading  Disciples  here 
have  long  worked  consistently  for  a  qualified  ministry.  And 
the  standard  will  be  raised,  not  lowered.  The  "'Old  North 
State"  has  led  the  way.  Sister  States  will  profit  by  her  exam- 
ple. Disciple  State  Secretaries  of  America  had  their  Annual 
Meeting  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  March,  1927.  The  passage  of 
the  last  section  of  a  "Resolution  on  the  Ministry,"  which  was 
adopted  by  the  narrowest  margin,  was  significant.  It  follows:2 
"We  recommend  the  advisability  of  the  members  of  this  Asso- 
ciation (State  Secretaries)  submitting  to  the  Conventions  of 
their  respective  areas  a  plan  whereby  ordination  of  recruits  to 
the  ministry  may  be  established  by  area-wide  concert  on  a  plane 
of  dignity,  security,  and  effectiveness,  and  that  there  be  pro- 
jected in  the  plan  the  extension  of  the  same  concert  in  consecu- 
tive recognition  of  the  entire  State  roll."  It  happened  that  by 
request  the  North  Carolina  Secretary,  as  a  member  of  a  Com- 
mittee, wrote  this.  He  was  inspired  to  do  it  by  the  light  of  the 
seventy  years'  experience  of  his  progressive  State  constituency 
who  had  pioneered  with  the  issue.  It  is  a  contribution  of  North 
Carolina. 

Disciples  in  the  future  will  provide  better  for  the  social-reli- 
gious development  of  their  young  people.  There  has  been  swift 
and  gratifying  progress  in  this  field.  Ministerial  students  are 
giving  increasingly  large  attention  to  religious  education.  In 
North  Carolina  among  Disciples  Bible  School  enrollment  is  in- 
creasing at  a  greater  ratio  than  church  membership.3 

The  membership  is  to  be  stirred  by  a  ministry  of  vision,  and 
of    growing    prophetic    and    administrative    capacity.      In    the 


234  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

weaker  churches  the  pastor  must  necessarily  be  largely  an  ad- 
ministrator. In  the  stronger  ones  an  outstanding  prophetic 
ministry  may  often  be  in  order  if  the  shepherd  is  to  save  his  own 
soul  and  those  of  his  flock.  The  progress  of  the  Church  depends 
on  the  equitable  evaluation  of  spiritual  things  by  the  member- 
ship. This  will  be  expressed  in  a  growing  sense  of  stewardship, 
manifest  in  the  larger  giving  of  mind,  heart,  and  purse  to  the 
Kingdom. 

Disciples  are  growing  in  appreciation  of  the  duty  and  power 
of  co-operative  effort — notwithstanding  the  rampant  individual- 
ism of  some.  The  universal  Church  of  Christ  is  a  reality.  This 
expansive  idea  is  permeating  the  Disciple  consciousness;  slowly 
it  may  be,  for  uncounted  thousands  yet  know  no  zeal  or  loyalty 
save  for  the  local  church.  Like  Thomas  of  old  they  will  not 
recognize  their  Lord  except  at  the  tips  of  their  fingers.  For 
some  of  these  there  is  coming  a  renascence  of  faith  which  will 
so  enlarge  their  vision  and  renew  their  heart  that  they  will  look 
responsively  on  the  fields  far  and  near  which  are  "white  unto 
the  harvest."  It  is  to  be  candidly  admitted  that  there  are  those 
who  for  temperament,  or  training,  or  lack  of  it,  may  never  be 
brought  to  co-operate  with  a  central  organization.  This,  by 
analogy,  is  the  way  of  the  physical  world.  Centripetal  force  is 
ever  pulling  toward  the  center,  while  the  centrifugal  is  flinging 
at  a  tangent  from  the  center.  God  creates  and  controls  both 
forces.  If  all  men  are  to  work  together,  their  spirits  must  in 
an  analogous  sense,  transcend  these  conditions  of  the  physical 
world  in  which  they  live.    God  also  controls  this. 

It  is  the  scientific  age.  Everything  tangible  is  subject  to 
surveys,  and  tests,  and  inspections,  and  analyses,  and  equations, 
and  hair-breadth  measurements.  Religion  should  have  no  kick 
at  this.  For  God  is  still  the  Father.  The  co-operative  ideal 
must  not  shirk  the  acid  test.  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them.''  If  the  co-operative  service  is  effective  in  building  the 
Kingdom;  if  it  is  subject  always  to  the  manifestly  democratic 
control  of  its  constituents;  if  it  does  justly,  loves  mercy,  and 
walks  humbly  before  its  God ;  if  its  continuity  of  service  is  un- 
broken as  the  stream  of  a  mighty  river;  and  if  it  lets  the  full 
light  of  day  fall  on  all  of  its  operations;  then  by  all  the  logic  of 
the  acid  test,  it  will  command  the  sacrificial  loyalty  of  earnest 
men  and  women  until  a  better  expedient  is  at  hand. 


IDEALS   AND   OUTLOOK  235 

Independency  must  be  subject  to  the  same  test.  "Wherever 
it  breaks  down,  men  will  lose  faith,  or  grow  fanatical,  or  be  lost 
to  the  Church,  or  arise  and  cast  about  for  a  better  way  to  do 
the  work  of  God. 

Disciples  have  made  a  great  contribution  in  evangelism.  In  a 
recent  general  investigation  of  methods  of  gospel  invitation  ex- 
tended sinners,  they  stand  at  the  head  as  to  the  effectiveness  of 
their  appeal.  Growing  out  of  this  genius  of  the  Disciples  has 
come  the  plan  to  observe  the  nineteen  hundredth  anniversary  of 
Pentecost  in  1930.  It  will  mark  the  culmination  of  the  most 
aggressive  general  campaign  for  soul-winning  yet  seen  among 
this  people.  From  the  days  of  Barton  Stone  and  Walter  Scott 
they  have  been  characterized  by  a  compelling  evangelistic  mes- 
sage. 

The  Disciples  will  have  fulfilled  their  distinctive  mission  when 
all  the  children  of  God  are  united  in  Christ,  the  Head  of  the 
Church,  with  an  authoritative  platform  in  the  word  of  God, 
which  is  the  revelation  of  Him.  Protestantism  has  its  evils, 
which  in  the  grace  of  God  it  must  outgrow.  Disciples  are  falli- 
ble, and  mistakes  have  followed  as  a  matter  of  course.  But  they 
have  made  a  great  contribution  in  this  field,  and  must  be  pre- 
pared for  a  greater  one  tomorrow.  If  one  would  see  what  prog- 
ress has  been  made  toward  this  goal  in  the  last  fifty  or  seventy- 
five  years,  he  needs  but  to  consult  original  sources  in  literature 
and  life  of  the  respective  periods.  It  is  clear  that  the  religious 
world  of  America  is  growing  less  sectarian  in  spirit  and  outlook. 
The  academic  and  the  theological  with  all  their  divisive  human 
accretions  have  no  popular  appeal  today.  But  to  know  Christ 
and  to  project  that  Life  into  the  life  of  the  day  is  the  passion  of 
growing  multitudes  of  His  brethren.  Some  Oriental  Christian 
may  yet  give  a  better  soulful  interpretation  of  the  seventeenth 
chapter  of  John,  and  Paul's  marvelous  exhortation  to  unity  in 
the  Corinth  Church  of  Christ,  than  the  American  Disciples  have 
been  able  to  give.  If  so  they  will  hail  the  day.  For  it  has  long 
been  with  them  a  conviction  that  the  Lord's  own  should  be 
"one,"  even  as  the  Father  and  Son,  "that  the  world  may  be- 
lieve." 

Notes 

^Report  of  Fiftieth  Anniversary  Committee,  Minutes,  1905.  sMinutes, 
Disciples'  State  Secretaries'  Association,  meeting  in  Marquette  Hotel,  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  March  8-10,  1927.  'State  Year  Books  of  N.  C.  Disciples  of  re- 
cent years. 


PART  III 
EARLY  TIMES  IN  EARLY  CHURCHES 


PART  III— EARLY  TIMES  IN  EARLY  CHURCHES 

Chapter  XXVI 

HOOKERTON  AND  CONCORD   (BEAUFORT) 

It  is  evident  from  the  records  of  the  earliest  Disciples  in  the 
State  that  the  work  of  the  Church  Clerk  was  more  thorough  and 
important  in  the  middle  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  than  it 
has  since  been  in  the  larger  and  more  numerous  groups.  This 
may  have  been  occasioned  by  the  frequent  regular  business  meet- 
ings of  the  typical  local  Church  at  that  period,  which  oftentimes 
had  cases  of  discipline  under  consideration  requiring  consecutive 
treatment.  This  required  a  dependable  record.  It  was  a  custom 
of  the  Baptists  which  the  Disciples  naturally  adopted.  They 
were  conscientious  about  it.  With  the  coming  of  the  typewriter 
the  old-time  compact,  consecutive  Church  book  of  minutes  has 
all  but  disappeared.  Most  typed  matter  in  this  sophisticated  age 
is  never  bound  but  destroyed  after  a  temporary  filing.  Research 
men  of  a  century  hence  will  be  handicapped  for  material  from 
naive,  original  sources  of  the  present  day.  They  will  have  to 
use  too  largely  the  conventional  printed  bulletin,  or  press  mat- 
ter, or  graphophone  record,  or  cinematograph,  unless  perchance 
they  have  the  miraculous  invention  of  a  radio  which  can  repro- 
duce both  sound  and  picture  directly  issuing  under  any  circum- 
stances at  any  former  given  period.  The  old-fashioned  clerk's 
record,  however,  gives  an  authentic  and  ingenuous  insight  into 
the  life  of  the  given  church. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  some  of  these  clerk's  records  the 
spelling  and  punctuation  are  bad,  not  to  mention  grammar.  Let 
the  reader  bear  in  mind  that  during  the  youth  of  these  clerks, 
North  Carolina  had  no  Public  School  System.  The  wonder  is, 
not  that  they  did  so  poorly,  but  that  they  did  so  well.  We  con- 
fess a  genuine  love  and  respect  for  all  of  these  clerks,  but  if  we 
did  not  quote  from  their  record  in  its  originality,  it  would  lose 
its  expressional  character,  and  thus  much  of  its  interest  for  the 
reader.  For  obvious  reasons  we  give  only  the  initials  of  persons 
under  discipline. 

239 


240  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Fortunately  we  have  discovered  some  of  these  old  records. 
We  can  give  the  gist  of  them  as  they  came  fresh  from  the  hand 
of  the  local  clerk  nearly  a  century  ago.  A  few  may  be  easily 
presented  with  comparative  brevity  and  variety,  while  many 
records  would  tempt  us  to  sacrifice  both.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  North  Carolina  is  the  premier  American  State  for  her 
proportion  of  native  born,  which  means  that  she  has  a  homo- 
genious  people ;  meaning,  furthermore,  that  many  similar  things 
happened  in  her  various  Churches,  especially  those  of  the  same 
faith.  Therefore,  we  believe  that  the  abstract  of  records  here 
given  is  representative  of  the  whole  group  of  Churches.  As  they 
are  so  largely  taken  from  such  an  early  period,  they  tell  a  story 
of  the  Disciples  in  their  primitive  state  of  development. 

HOOKERTON 

This  Church  was  organized  March  20,  1830,  as  a  "Free  Will 
Baptist  Church  of  Christ."  Formerly  the  members  had  been 
an  "arm  to  the  Church  at  Grimsley."  James  Moore  was  the 
first  pastor.  Other  ministers  assisting  him  in  the  organization 
were  Levi  Braxton  and  Jesse  Heath.  They  worshiped  in  the 
red  "Union  Meeting  House,"  which  stood  on  the  public  square 
in  the  town  of  Hookerton.  The  first  "ruling  elders"  were  Ben- 
jamin Dixon,  John  F.  Jones,  and  Henry  Sugg.  First  Deacons 
were  James  Albritton  and  Thomas  Moore.  Winsor  Dixon  was 
the  first  ClerkJ 

The  first  minister  "licensed"  by  this  church  was  Jesse  Yause. 
This  was  in  August,  1830.  At  the  succeeding  November  meet- 
ing he  was  ordained  "to  the  office  of  teaching  elder."  Thomas 
Moore  and  Lewis  Hartsfield  were  "licensed"  to  preach  at  this 
meeting  also. 

The  Christian  Connection  ministry  visited  them.  Thus  John 
Hayes  preached  for  them  on  February  19,  1831.  Another  of 
this  faith,  Littlejohn  Utley,  preached  for  them  in  March,  1840. 
The  record  called  him  "a  minister  of  the  Christian  Baptist 
Church." 

In  the  meeting  of  November,  1831,  David  Hartsfield  was 
"licensed"  to  preach.     He  was  ordained  the  following  August. 

For  the  meeting  of  February  18,  1832,  the  Clerk  made  a  typ- 
ical record  of  the  practice  of  ceremonial  feet -washing  as  follows : 


John  James  Harper,  1841-1908 


Joshua  Lawrence  Burns,  182B-1904 


EARLY    TIMES   IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  241 

"Brethren  met  at  5  o'clock  in  the  evening  to  commemorate 
the  Lord's  death;  the  sacrament  was  administered  by  Elder 
James  Moore,  after  which  they  attended  to  the  washing  of  feet. ' ' 
The    following    minutes    illustrate    their     church     discipline: 

"The  brethren  met  according  to  appointment  on  Friday  be- 
fore the  3rd  Sabbath  in  August  1832.  After  preaching,  a  con- 
ference was  opened.  Upon  examination  of  the  church,  it  was 
stated  that  Bro.  D.  had  walked  disorderly,  if  not  ill  reported. 
Order  therefore  that  a  citation  be  issued  from  this  conference 
that  he  attend  the  next  quarterly  conference  to  answer  said 
complaint. ' ' 

At  the  next  "quarterly  meeting"  it  was  disposed  of  as  fol- 
lows: 

"On  motion,  the  case  of  D.  was  considered  and  upon  investi- 
gation, he  was  excommunicated." 

In  contrast  with  this  we  find  the  following  entry  in  May, 
1833: 

"Bro.  E.  made  a  confession  to  the  church  of  having  walk 
disorderly,  and  upon  his  saying  that  he  had  repented  and  be- 
lieved that  God  had  forgave  him,  was  restored  fellowship."  At 
the  same  meeting  it  was  recorded :  "A  member  of  the  new-light 
Baptist  (Union  Baptist)  Church  came  forward  and  was  received 
a  member  of  this  Church." 

Thomas  Campbell  on  his  "tour"  of  Eastern  North  Carolina 
visited  Hookerton  Church.  One  of  his  letters  to  his  wife  was 
dated  Hookerton,  March  11,  1834.1  As  related  to  this  visit,  the 
following  from  the  minutes  of  the  "quarterly  meeting"  of  May, 
1834,  is  of  peculiar  interest : 

"Elder  David  Hartsfield  upon  being  charged  with  some  con- 
nexion with  Elder  Thomas  Campbell's  system,  or  his  preaching 
moved  to  take  the  vote  of  the  conference  whether  their  feelings 
were  hurt  with  him,  after  giving  his  statement  of  the  case,  voted 
that  their  feelings  were  not  hurt  with  Elder  Hartsfield." 

A  new  wrinkle  was  seen  in  their  discipline  in  November,  1835. 
It  was  recorded:  "A  charge  was  also  preferred  against  Bro.  C. 
who  was  set  aside  from  the  Communion  until  further  proof  of 
his  Christianity." 

In  May,  1837,  the  rule  was  made  exact  and  explicit  for  attend- 
ance of  members  at  the  business  meetings  as  follows:  "On 
motion  agreed  that  members  of  this  church  shall  be  cited  to 


242  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

attend  if  they  shall  be  absent  from  the  Church  successively  for 
three  conferences  to  give  an  account  for  their  doing  so." 

While  the  name  of  the  Church  at  its  beginning  in  1830  was 
"The  Free  Will  Baptist  Church  of  Christ,"  in  August,  1838, 
the  Clerk  designated  it,  "The  Baptist  Church  of  Christ."  In 
August,  1853,  it  was  named  in  the  Minutes,  "The  Church  of 
Christ  at  Hookerton" ;  while  in  August,  1868,  it  was  called  "The 
Christian  Church  at  Hookerton." 

In  August,  1838,  William  McGounds  was  chosen  as  their 
second  Pastor.  Robert  Bond  and  John  P.  Dunn  were  also 
preaching  here  at  this  time.  In  February,  1839,  Robert  Bond 
became  their  third  pastor.  Benjamin  Parrott  was  their  fourth 
pastor,  and  attained  that  office  in  February,  1844. 

While  discipline  was  strict  it  was  not  without  mercy  as  the 
following  minute  of  the  meeting  of  May,  1840,  shows: 

"The  church  called  on  Sister  H.  to  relate  her  feelings  with 
regard  to  her  conduct  in  preparing  a  supper  for  a  subscription 
ball  which  conduct  the  church  considered  very  offensive,  and 
upon  her  acknowledging  that  she  did  not  know  it  was  wrong, 
was  restored  to  fellowship." 

That  the  Church  was  being  enlightened  at  a  certain  point  by 
New  Testament  teaching  was  apparent  in  February,  1842.  The 
record  said : 

"On  the  same  evening  the  church  met  to  commemorate  the 
Lord's  death.  The  sacrament  was  administered  by  Eld.  Robt. 
Bond,  and  Wm.  McGounds,  after  which  some  opinions  was 
offered  relative  to  connecting  washing  feet  with  the  Lord's  sup- 
per." 

A  peculiar  instance  of  discipline  appeared  August  20,  1842, 
as  follows: 

f'A  charge  was  preferred  against  Bro.  D.  and  wife,  Sister  D. 
of  playing  off  a  conjuring  trick  on  Sister  B.  and  her  husband, 
and  the  following  brethring  were  appointed  a  committee  to  in- 
vestigate the  charge :  Winsor  Dixon,  Benj.  Dixon,  Jas.  Albrit- 
ton  and  Henry  Sugg,  and  report  the  same.  The  committee 
after  having  the  testimony  believe  them  unworthy  of  member- 
ship and  upon  reporting  the  same  they  were  excluded  from  the 
church." 


EARLY    TIMES    IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  243 

In  November,  1842,  it  was  said :  ' '  This  Church  is  again  under 
sore  trial  from  disorder  and  some  division."  And  in  May,  1843, 
it  was  recorded: 

This  church  has  experienced  the  most  difficult  trials  for  the  last  year 
known  to  the  church  since  its  origin.  From  divisions,  misrepresentations, 
and  persecutions,  From  some  unfounded  objections  to  the  minutes  of  the 
annual  conference,  of  1S41  (NOV)  in  regard  to  a  local  name  reassumed 
by  that  conference,  there  were  certain  brethren  in  the  ministry,  who  com- 
menced this  operation  in  the  churches  which  compose  said  conference  by 
misrepresentations  of  the  conference,  and  their  brethren,  taking  exception 
to  the  doctrine  of  those  who  profess  to  take  the  word  of  God  for  their  only 
rule  of  faith  and  practice.  In  1842  they  succeeded  in  drawing  off  a  few 
churches  and  to  form  a  new  annual  conference,  which  is  commonly  called 
the  Luzern  (Lousan)  Swamp  Conference  but  they  have  claimed  the  name 
for  it  the  old  Free  Will  Baptist  Conference.  Since  then,  it  is  to  be  feared 
they  have  propogated  party  feelings  and  their  efforts  have  been  to  rend, 
split  and  pull  down  the  churches  of  the  Bethel  Conference,  to  build  up 
this  new  conference. 

f  The  following  showed  the  adoption  of  the  new  form  of  gospel 
invitation : 

November,  1844  Quarterly  Meeting  at  Hookerton.  After  preaching,  con- 
ference was  opened  by  choosing  Elder  Wm.  Mcgounds  moderator  Fro  Tern 
and  having  no  business  before  them,  it  was  proposed  that  if  any  persons 
present  who  took  the  scriptures  for  their  guide,  and  renounce  sectarianism, 
proving  their  faith  by  their  works,  that  the  door  of  the  church  as  of  the 
hearts  of  the  brethren  were  open  to  receive  them;  there  came  forward  six 
persons  for  membership  all  white,  and  one  or  two  blacks  also  who  desired 
membership ;  on  the  same  day  we  think  the  church  received  one  who  had  not 
hitherto  been  a  member  of  any  church. 

In  August,  1852,  William  May  presented  a  letter  and  was 
received  as  a  member  by  the  church.  His  letter  signed  by  Sam- 
uel Vines,  Senior  Clerk,  was  as  follows : 

"The  church  of  Christ  at  Tysons  (subsequently,  Farmville) 
Pitt  County,  North  Carolina.  A  petition  for  a  letter  of  dismis- 
sion in  behalf  of  our  beloved  brother  William  May,  it  was 
granted  and  ordered  that  said  brother  be  furnished  with  the 
same.  Our  bro.  leaves  us  in  full  fellowship,  we  therefore  com- 
mend him  to  our  brethren  in  Christ  and  the  Christian  commu- 
nity, we  bid  him  God  Speed." 

In  November,  1852,  the  church  showed  her  characteristic  lib- 
erality in  voting  forty-five  dollars  to  sustain  the  new  Evangelist, 
Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh,  for  the  ensuing  year. 


244  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES   OP    CHRIST 

A  financial  system  was  established  in  March,  1853,  as  follows : 

"On  motion,  it  was  agreed  that  in  order  to  sustain  the  treas- 
ury of  this  church  the  members  contribute  quarterly  such  sums 
as  they  may  think  proper  for  that  purpose  and  the  treasurer 
report  annually  the  amount  in  the  treasury." 

In  the  quarterly  meeting,  February,  1856,  Dr.  Wra.  H.  Hug- 
hart  preached  for  them.  He  located.  He  and  his  wife  and  two 
daughters  placed  their  membership  there.  The  record  said : 
"This  preaching  on  both  days  was  truly  edifying  and  well  re- 
ceived. ' ' 

In  1862  Oeorge  Joyner  was  their  pastor.  In  1868,  Josephus 
Latham  had  succeeded  to  that  office.  In  the  September,  1868, 
minutes,  account  was  given  of  their  revival  as  follows: 

/  Our  beloved  pastor,  J.  Latham  met  a  few  of  us  at  Hookerton  and  com- 
rmenced  a  vigorous  attack  upon  sin  and  Satan.  The  two  first  days  there 
was  but  little  impression  made  more  than  the  encouragement  and  warming 
up  the  old  members.  Monday  Eld.  A.  J.  Battle  joined  us  and  the  contest 
raged  with  double  energy.  But  the  people  in  and  around  Hookerton  seemed 
so  thoroughly  grounded  and  fortified  by  Sin  and  Error,  as  in  days  of  old 
they  rejected  the  truth  and  went  away  seeking  the  pleasures  of  Sin  for  a 
season.  The  meeting  resulted  in  four  additions  to  the  church.  Three  from 
the  U.  B.  's  (Union  Baptists)  and  one  from  the  world,  by  confession  and 
baptism. 

)  The  membership  was  given  as  forty-three  in  1868.  The  roll 
does  not  appear  in  the  Minutes  which  we  discovered  until  1864, 
and  '66  and  '68.  Then  there  are  twenty-seven  family  names 
appearing  as  follows:  Aldridge,  Albritton,  Aycock,  Carr,  Cox, 
Coward,  Dixon,  Faireloth,  Forrest,  Grimsley,  Harper,  Hart, 
Hooker,  Jackson,  Johnson,  Mewborn,  Murphy,  Parrott,  Powell, 
Pridgen,  Rountree,  Rouse,  Taylor,  Turnage,  Waters,  Watson, 
and  Weatherington: 


Concord  (Beaufort  County) 

This  church,  situated  about  a  mile  from  the  village  of  Pantego, 
was  organized  on  October  2  1830,  with  thirty-six  members,  two 
of  whom  were  slaves.  They  had  formerly  been  members  of  the 
Pungo  River  Church.  They  were  now  provided  with  "a  church 
more  convenient  to  their  several  places  of  residence."  Henry 
Smith  was  the  first  "presiding  Elder";  John  Carrow,  Sr.,  and 
James  B.  Adams  were  "assistant  Elders";  Ephraim  Rat  cliff, 
deacon;  and  Thomas  J.  Latham,  Clerk.    Fourteen  family  names 


EARLY    TIMES    IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  245 

appear  on  the  roll  as  follows:  Adams,  Carrow,  Eborn,  Ellis, 
Johnson,  Jones,  Latham,  Palmer,  Rateliff,  Saunders,  Smith, 
Whitley,  Wilkinson  and  Windley. 

An  evidence  of  ceremonial  feet  washing  was  seen  in  an  entry 
for  October  1837,  as  follows:  "Agreed  that  the  Treasurer  be 
authorized  to  purchase  two  basins  and  two  towels  for  the  use  of 
the  Church."  The  purpose  of  a  provision  at  the  next  monthly 
meeting  is  not  so  clear.  It  was  "agreed  that  Bro.  Eph.  Rateliff 
be  allowed  seventeen  cents  for  two  handkerchiefs  bought  for  the 
use  of  the  Church." 

The  following  Church  letter  ordered  sent  to  the  Annual  Meet- 
ing of  the  Bethel  Conference,  in  November,  1837,  was  an  exam- 
ple of  general  practice,  of  the  Churches  of  that  group : 

To  the  ministers  and  messengers  composing  the  Bethel  General  Confer- 
ence  to   be   held   at   Luzen    (Lousan)    Swamp,   Lenoir   Co.    send   greeting: 

Dearly  Beloved  Brethren : 

At  our  last  quarterly  meeting  we  appointed  our  worthy  Bro.  Jos.  D. 
Satchwell  our  delegate  to  meet  you  in  conference,  we  also  agreed  to  remit 
one  dollar  by  him  for  the  treasury  to  the  conference.  At  our  present 
monthly  meeting  we  have  been  compelled  to  excuse  Bro.  Satchwell  from 
acting  as  our  delegate,  as  his  family  is  not  in  a  situation  to  be  left  with 
safety.  We  have  therefore  authorized  him  to  send  this  letter  and  the  dollar 
before  mentioned  by  some  safe  conveyance,  if  to  be  found,  our  only  alterna- 
tive. The  number  of  members  in  our  church  after  deducting  such  as  have 
died  and  moved  beyond  its  limits  is  fifty-one.  May  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  attend  you,  dear  brethren,  collectively  and  individually. 

That  the  first  Sunday  in  each  month  has  been  the  ' '  preaching- 
Sunday,"  continuously  for  almost  a  century  was  foreshadowed 
in  their  resolution  of  March,  1838.    It  said : 

"Resolved:  That  we  have  a  right  to  occupy  our  M.  H.  at 
Concord  on  any  day  or  days  at  pleasure,  and  having  appointed 
the  first  Lord's  day  in  each  month  as  our  day  of  meeting  for 
public  worship,  and  not  being  willing  to  alter  our  days  of  meet- 
ing or  to  be  disturbed  on  those  days — It  is  on  motion  agreed; 
That  our  clerk  be  requested  to  notify  local  preachers  of  the  fact 
and  desire  them  not  to  molest  us  on  the  days  aforesaid — 1st 
Sunday  in  each  month." 

Their  manner  of  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  indi- 
cated from  scattered  entries.  In  June,  1838,  it  was  "agreed 
that  the  breaking  of  the  loaf,  etc.,  be  omitted  this  day  in  con- 
sequence of  disorder  in  the  Church."    May,  1839:   "On  motion 


246  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

agreed  that  the  breaking  of  the  loaf  be  dispensed  with  in  conse- 
quence of  the  probability  of  rain. ' '  July,  1840  :  ' '  On  motion 
agreed  that  communion  be  dispensed  with  today  in  consequence 
of  ill  health  of  the  Deacons  and  Elders." 

At  the  business  meeting  November,  1838,  J.  D.  Satchwell  re- 
signed as  clerk,  and  Samuel  Windley  was  put  in  his  place. 

In  April,  1839,  Henry  Smith  resigned  as  pastor,  and  Thos.  J. 
Latham  elected,  who  served  for  sixteen  years.  Smith's  resigna- 
tion was  accompanied  by  the  following  letter: 

Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  that  compose  this  church  at  Concord,  I  ad- 
dress you  in  a  few  lines  as  your  present  pastor.  I  wish  to  inform  you  that 
in  the  present  state  of  things  it  is  out  of  my  power  to  attend  your  meeting 
at  this  time;  for  which  I  am  sorry;  but  I  have  good  reasons  to  hope  my 
absence  will  not  prevent  your  doing  justice  to  that  great  cause  in  which 
you  are  enlisted.  Hence  it  is  that  infirmity  of  body  and  distance  bid  fair 
to  prevent  me  from  having  many  more  intercourses  with  you ;  especially 
when  there  are  divisions  amongst  you.  If  decisions  cannot  be  made  in  my 
absence  I  must  advise  you  to  release  me  from  the  present  charge,  and  make 
choice  of  Brother  Thomas  J.  Latham,  as  it  is  much  more  convenient  for 
him ;  and  not  only  that,  but  you  all  know  that  he  is  as  capable  as  I  possibly 
can  be.  Therefore  my  best  wishes  are  that  you  may  so  live  in  the  present 
world  that  you  may  be  happy  in  the  other.  May  God  grant  it  for  Jesus' 
Sake  is  my  prayer.     I  remain  your  loving  brother.     (Signed)   Henry  Smith. 

In  June,  1839,  John  Carrow,  Sr.,  "was  permitted  to  resign 
the  office  of  Assistant  Elder  of  this  church  in  Consequence  of 
confirmed  deafness. ' '    Another  minute  of  the  same  meeting  said : 

"On  motion:  agreed  that  (to)  the  male  members  of  this 
church  (it)  be  recommended  to  increase  the  funds  in  the  treas- 
ury for  the  purpose  of  ministering  to  the  necessities  of  poor 
saints  and  indigent  ministers  visiting  us." 

In  the  Fall  of  1842  the  Church  invited  the  next  "General 
Conference ' '  to  meet  with  them,  and  the  invitation  was  embodied 
in  the  Church  letter.  This  was  repeated  in  1843.  In  neither 
case  was  it  accepted,  the  conferences  being  held  at  Wheat 
Swamp  and  Hookerton,  1843  and  '44  respectively.  These  were 
formative  years  when  the  merger  between  Free  Will  Baptists 
and  Disciples  was  pending. 

A  paid  janitor  first  appeared  in  December,  1842,  when 
Ephraim  Eat  cliff  was  authorized  to  "have  the  meeting  house 
cleaned  as  often  as  he  may  deem  it  necessary  and  that  he  pay 
for  the  same  out  of  church  funds." 


EARLY    TIMES   IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  247 

When  Thomas  Campbell  visited  this  Church  in  April,  1834, 
he  stopped  overnight  with  William  W.  Campbell.2  For  October, 
1843,  the  following  entry  appeared:  "On  motion  agreed  that 
whereas  William  W.  Campbell,  late  a  member  of  this  church  is 
dead,  it  is  therefore  ordered  that  his  name  be  discontinued  on 
our  list  of  members." 

In  April,  1844,  they  decided  to  build  a  new  house  of  worship 
on  a  new  site.  Their  old  house  stood  opposite  the  present  resi- 
dence of  Elder  Daniel  Topping.  They  were  to  build  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  away  where  the  hard  surfaced  road  now  bends  as  it 
nears  Pantego  from  the  west.    The  minute  read : 

"On  motion  agreed  that  Thos.  J.  Latham,  James  W.  Gaylord 
and  Joseph  D.  Sat  ch  well  be  appointed  commissioners  to  receive 
contributions  to  build  a  new  meeting  house  (the  place  hereafter 
to  be  agreed  upon)  and  also  trustees  for  the  church  for  the  land 
it's  to  be  built  on." 

Following  were  some  interesting  cases  of  discipline.  April, 
1839:  "The  case  of  Brother  H.  against  Bro.  B.  was  taken  up 
and  the  parties  heard  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  said  H.  and  B. 
be  set  apart  from  the  communion  of  the  church  till  further  satis- 
faction be  made ;  or  they  be  reconciled. ' '  July,  1844 :  ' '  On  mo- 
tion agreed  that  the  case  of  Bro.  S.  be  referred  to  the  Elders, 
Bros.  Jno.  Smith,  Wiley  Wilkinson  and  James  B.  Adams  and 
report  at  next  meeting."  They  submitted  a  report  as  follows, 
signing  it,  "your  humble  servants." 

"At  our  meeting  held  first  Lord's  day  in  July  last  the  case  of 
S.  was  referred  to  the  Elders  of  the  church  for  consideration 
and  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty  they  assembled  together  for 
that  cause  with  his  letter  giving  accounts  of  himself  before  us 
and  after  due  consideration  find  ourselves  bound  with  sighs  of 
lamentations  to  say  that  he  should  not  be  held  as  a  member  of 
our  church  neither  have  a  name  on  our  list  of  members. ' ' 

That  the  sisters  must  also  abide  by  the  rigorous  discipline  was 
seen  in  the  record  for  January,  1846.  Sister  M.  was  visited  by 
a  church  committee  upon  whose  report  it  was  "agreed  that  her 
name  be  continued  but  that  she  be  set  aside  from  communion 
for  the  time  of  six  months." 

May,  1846:  "On  motion  agreed  that  Bro.  0.  J.  be  excluded 
from  this  church  for  Schism  or  apostasy,  as  he  renders  no  rea- 
son for  requesting  his  name  erased  from  our  list  of  members." 


248  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Old  Concord  was  much  interested  in  the  proposed  union  of 
Disciples  and  Free  Will  Baptists  which  was  effected  at  the  spe- 
cial meeting  at  Hookerton,  May  2,  1845.  The  following  minute 
for  April,  1845,  related  to  this: 

"On  motion  agreed  that  Bro.  Samuel  T.  Carrow  be  appointed 
a  delegate  to  the  convention  to  be  held  at  Hookerton  to  com- 
mence on  Thursday  before  the  first  Lord's  day  in  May  next  and 
that  50c  be  sent  from  this  church  by  him  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  printing  minutes,  etc." 

During  the  next  year  the  reaction  of  those  who  would  not 
enter  the  merger  was  felt.  A  local  Free  Will  Baptist  Church 
was  organized.  Jos.  D.  Satchwell  was  made  its  clerk.  It  was 
ordered  by  the  Disciples  that  Satchwell  should  be  given  "a  copy 
of  all  the  letters  of  resignation  of  all  the  members  that  have  left 
this  church  and  joined  them."  And  the  letter  sent  by  Concord 
to  the  General  Conference  of  1846  was  revealing.     It  follows: 

The  church  of  Christ  meeting  at  Concord,  Beaufort  County.  To  the 
ministers  and  messengers  composing  the  Bethel  Conference  and  union  meet- 
ing of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  to  be  held  at  Post  Oak  Grove,  Craven  County, 
Send  Greetings.     Dearly  Beloved: 

We  have  appointed  our  worthy  brethren  Daniel  L.  Burgess  and  William 
F.  Flynn  and  Samuel  Windley,  our  messengers  to  meet  you  in  conference. 
We  also  remit  by  them  two  dollars  to  the  use  of  the  conference.  During 
the  past  year  we  have  received  by  letter  seven,  baptized  one,  dismissed  one, 
dead  eight,  excluded  two,  and  thirty-one  has  withdrawn.  Our  present  num- 
ber in  fellowship  is  one  hundred  and  eleven.  Brethren,  keep  your  self 
unspotted  from  the  world,  live  a  Christian  life,  adorn  the  doctrine  of  Christ 
our  Savior,  neglect  not  the  assembling  of  yourselves  together  as  the  custom 
of  some  is,  but  be  steadfast,  immovable  always  abounding  in  the  works  of 
the  Lord.  If  reproaches  and  revilings  be  ours  let  us  go  forth  unto  Jesus 
without  the  camp  bearing  his  reproach  for  here  we  have  no  continuing 
city,  but  will  seek  one  to  come.  By  him  therefore  let  us  offer  the  sacrifice 
of  praise  to  God  continually  that  is  the  fruit  of  our  lips  giving  thanks  to 
His  name.  But  to  do  good  and  to  communicate  forget  not  for  with  such 
sacrifice  God  is  well  pleased.  Brethren  pray  for  us  for  we  trust  we  have 
a  good  conscience  in  all  things  willing  to  live  honestly,  and  now  the  God 
of  peace  that  brought  again  from  the  dead  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  great 
Shepherd  of  the  sheep  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant  make 
you  perfect  in  every  good  work,  to  do  his  will,  working  in  you  that  which  is 
well  pleasing  in  his  sight  through  Jesus  Christ  to  whom  be  glory  forever 
and  ever,   Amen. 

The  following  officers  served  Concord  in  January,  1848 :  Thos. 
J.   Latham,   presiding   Elder;   John   Smith.    Jas.   W.    Gavlord, 


EARLY   TIMES    IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  249 

James  Windley,  assistant  elders;  Jesse  Windier,  William  A. 
Eborn,  deacons;  Samuel  Windley,  Clerk. 

In  January,  1849,  Josephus  Latham  was  given  a  "letter  of 
recommendation"  for  the  ministry.  In  March  following-  it  was 
"agreed"  that  he  "have  license  to  preach,  and  that  Elders  John 
P.  Dunn,  Benjamin  Parrott,  and  Robert  Bond,  or  any  two  of 
them  assist  in  ordination,  and  that  they  give  him  a  certificate  of 
the  same." 

In  August,  1849,  John  R.  Winneld  ' '  was  received, "  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Church.  He  served  the  Church  as  pastor  from  1855, 
to  1873,  also  several  years  at  a  later  period  from  1875  onward. 
Augustus  Latham,  Jr.,  was  pastor  in  the  interval.  The  church 
grew  to  a  large  membership  under  these  ministers.  Fifty-one 
years  ago  the  old  house  of  worship  was  abandoned  and  a  new  one 
erected  in  Pantego,  which  was  dedicated  by  John  R.  Winneld 
on  the  First  Lord's  Day  in  September,  1876. 

Notes 

1Pirst  paragraph,  "Letter  VI,"  in  "Memoirs  of  Thomas  Champbell,"  by 
Alexander  Campbell,  a  volume  which  gives  the  three  North  Carolina  letters 
of  Thomas  Campbell  on  pages  152-164.  2Geo.  C.  Respess  in  Watch  Tower, 
March   17,    1905. 


Chapter  XXVII 

OAK  GROVE   (PITT),  WELCHE'S  CREEK,  AND 
PLEASANT  HILL 

Oak  Grove  (Pitt) 

This  Church  in  Pitt  County,  was  formally  organized  October 
25,  1834.  It  is  apparent  from  the  minutes  that  it  had  been  func- 
tioning as  an  unorganized  group  for  some  time.  Its  present 
building  which  is  near  the  original  site  is  about  five  miles  south 
of  Robersonville,  and  about  sixteen  miles  northeast  of  Greenville. 
Following  was  their  organization  Covenant  and  roll : 

"We  whose  names  are  under  written  being  called  by  the  grace  of  God  as 
we  trust  and  formed  into  a  church  known  by  the  name  of  Oak  Grove  we 
believe  the  old  and  new  Testament  contains  all  things  necessary  for  the 
salvation  of  all  Adam's  posterities,  and  that  God  shall  not  engage  to  save 
any  but  such  as  truly  repent  of  their  sins  and  unfeignedly  believe  in  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  and  all  that  do  comply  with  Christ 's  commands  in 
this  world,  God  for  the  great  love  he  hath  for  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  will 
finally  save  them  with  an  everlasting  salvation: — Henry  Roberson,  George 
Britten,  Nathaniel  Keel,  Daniel  Hill,  Josiah  Taylor,  Thomas  Roebuck,  John 
Percey,  Richmond  H.  Terry,  Achron  Hill,  Nancy  Brown,  Mary  Terry, 
Judiah  Britten,  Pollyann  Daniel. 

Their  first  officers  were :  Jeremiah  Leggett,  Pastor ;  Henry 
Roberson,  Clerk;  and  George  Britten  and  Nathaniel  Keel,  Dea- 
cons. It  was  requested  that  Henry  Roberson  "draw  rules  of 
order  and  decorum  for  the  government  of  this  Church. ' '  He  did 
so  and  it  was  adopted.    It  follows: 

A  decorum,   or 

Rules  of  Conference  from  a  long  series  of  experience  of  Christ  we  are 
convinced  of  the  necessity  of  convening  to  go  there  as  often  as  may  be  in 
order  to  hold  conferences  and  to  discharge  our  duty  in  watching  over  each 
other  as  Christ  has  commanded;  ordained  therefore  that  the  following 
decorum  be  a  rule  for  the  Church  at  Oak  Grove  in  Pitt  County  to  conduct 
herself  by  in  her  future  conferences  and  we  will  not  forsake  the  house  of 
our  God.  And  let  us  consider  .one  another  to  provoke  unto  love  and  good 
works  not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together  as  the  manner  of 
some  is.  (1)  The  conference  shall  be  composed  of  the  members  of  this 
church  only  unless  any  of  the  members  of  other  Baptist  Churches  be  pres- 

250 


EARLY    TIMES   IN   EARLY    CHURCHES  251 

ent  and  in  such  case  the  church  may  order  the  Moderator  to  invite  them 
to  a  seat.  (2)  Conference  shall  be  opened  and  closed  by  praise  or  prayer 
to  All  Mighty  God.  (3)  One  shall  be  chosen  to  preside  as  who  shall  be 
moderator  to  be  addressed  under  the  apellation  of  Brother  Moderator. 
(4)  The  members  names  being  regularly  enrolled  shall  by  the  clerk  be  dis- 
tinctly called  over,  Acts  1st,  15th  verse.  (.5)  A  door  shall  be  opened  for  the 
admission  of  members  but  none  shall  be  received  but  by  unanimous  consent 
and  when  full  satisfaction  shall  be  obtained  the  pastor  or  deacon  or  mod- 
erator shall  manifest  the  same  by  giving  them  the  right  hand  of  fellowship 
and  thereby  receive  them  in  due  form,  1st.  Peter  3rd.  15th  V.  And  they 
gave  us  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  (6)  No  complaint  shall  be  brought 
into  conference  against  a  brother  or  sister  respecting  crimes  of  a  private 
nature  until  the  aggrieved  party  have  complied  with  the  directions  given 
by  our  Lord  in  the  18th  chapter  of  Matthew  verses  15,  16  and  17.  (7) 
But  one  shall  speak  at  a  time  who  shall  rise  from  his  or  her  seat,  address 
him  who  shall  preside  under  the  apellation  of  Brother  Moderator.  (8) 
Every  motion  made  and  seconded  shall  come  under  the  consideration  of 
this  conference  unless  with  drawn  by  the  member  who  madest.  1st  Cor. 
14,  cp.  40  v.  (9)  Every  query  presented  shall  be  three  times  read  and 
before  it  be  received  the  moderator  shall  put  it  to  vote  according  to  the 
majority  for  or  against,  it  shall  be  answered  accordingly.  (10)  If  any 
member  neglects  to  attend  conference  the  same  is  disorder;  absenting  him 
or  herself  from  conference  without  leave  the  same  is  disorder.  Any  mem- 
ber whispering  or  sleeping  in  time  of  a  public  speech  the  same  is  disorder. 
No  two  or  more  shall  speak  at  a  time,  or  any  member  speaking  without 
rising  from  their  seats  and  addressing  himself  to  the  Moderator  the  same 
is  disorder.  Any  member  speaking  more  than  three  times  to  one  thing 
without  leave  the  same  is  disorder.  Any  member  being  grieved  at  thing 
done  in  conference  and  shall  hold  his  or  her  peace  and  not  let  the  same  be 
known  until  conference  rises  shall  after  speak  of  the  same  to  confusion  it 
is  thereby  deemed  disorder.  Any  member  speaking  or  acting  in  wrath  or 
anger  or  a  disorderly  manner  as  it  shames  religion  and  wounds  cause  of 
God  grieves  Christians  it  is  hereby  deemed  disorder.  If  moderator  shall 
neglect  to  politely  and  timely  reprove  any  member  that  transgresseth  any 
of  these  rules  or  himself  behave  in  any  manner  irreverently  in  time  of 
conference  the  same  is  disorder  and  therefore  is  liable  to  be  reproved  by 
the  church. 

Some  interesting  minutes  of  their  " quarterly  meetings"  con- 
cerning their  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  are  as  follows: 
October  25,  1834:  "Motion  made  (and  adopted)  that  this 
Church  commune  Quarterly."  March,  1851:  "On  motion 
agreed  not  to  commune  till  next  Sunday  at  our  Union  Meeting. ' ' 
December,  1869:  "Motion  agreed  that  any  bro.  or  sister  belong- 
ing to  this  (Church)  who  do  not  comune  when  present  shall 
render  thare  reason  at  the  next  Conference."     October,  1870: 


252  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

"On  motion  the  Conference  agreed  to  commune  every  meeting 
or  Monthly. ' ' 

Certain  days  were  consecrated  by  the  Church  to  fasting  and 
prayer.  December,  1834:  "Resolved  that  Saturday  before  the 
4th  Lord's  Day  in  next  month  we  set  apart  for  fasting  and 
prayer. ' ' 

They  soon  felt  the  need  of  co-operation  with  adjacent 
Churches.  "May  Meeting,  1835.  Resolved  that  this  church  join 
the  union  with  the  other  churches  of  the  same  persuasion  and 
represent  ourselves  by  our  delegates  and  letters.  Whereupon 
Brother  Roberson  appointed  write  the  letter  and  to  carry  it  to 
the  union  meeting  at  Smithwicks  Creek  Friday  before  the  5th 
Sunday  in  May,  1835." 

They  provided  for  the  ordination  of  the  first  minister  from 
their  group  in  November,  1836,  as  follows :  ' '  Ordered  that  Jere- 
miah Leggett,  John  Leggett  and  Daniel  Leggett  be  requested  to 
attend  our  quarterly  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  ordaining  Bro. 
Henry  Roberson,  a  minister  of  the  Gospel." 

They  were  strict  in  requiring  attendance  at  their  quarterly 
meetings. 

"Saturday  before  4th  Lord's  Day  in  April  1840.  Conference 
met  Brother  George  Britton  moderator.  Ordered  that  our  list 
be  called.  Ordered  that  Insigniffication  marks  made  on  all  mem- 
bers that  fail  to  answer  to  their  names  for  two  meetings  together, 
without  sixkness  or  some  unavoidable." 

In  August,  1851,  they  took  further  steps. 

Resolved:  That  if  any  member  of  this  church  shall  absent  himself  from 
three  conferences  in  succession  the  same  is  disorder,  and  may  be  called  to 
an  account  for  the  same,  in  manner  the  church  deems  most  proper. 

Resolved:  Further  that  if  any  member  being  sited  in  for  the  above 
offence  shall  fale  appear  or  by  some  other  mense  to  render  satisfaction  for 
three  other  successive  conferences,  the  same  is  extreme  disorder  and  a  viola- 
tion of  the  union  and  fellowship  of  the  church.  And  no  satisfaction  com- 
ming  to  hand  at  the  next  conference  his  name  may  be  taken  from  our  list 
that  they  be  numbered  not  with  us. 

Resolved:  Further  that  if  any  member  should  be  so  faithless  and  slooth- 
ful  as  only  to  attend  quarterly  so  as  to  escape  the  above  resilutions;  the 
same  is  disorder;  and  may  be  called  to  an  account  for  such  lasiness  and 
neglect  by  the  church. 

Sometimes  the  preacher  was  disturbed  by  non-attendance. 
July,  1853 :  "Elder  Henry  Roberson  offered  the  following  query, 
is  it  rite  fore  a  member  of  a  Church  to  absent  themselves  from 


EARLY    TIMES   IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  253 

the  church  when  it  is  in  their  power  to  come.  Answer,  no  it 
haint  rite.  Query,  is  it  rite  to  keep  a  members  name  on  our  list 
that  dont  come  for  five  or  six  meetings.  Ans.  No,  without  a 
good  excuse."  Occasionally  there  was  full  justification  revealed. 
May,  1854:  "On  motion  agreed  that  inquirey  be  made  respect- 
ing Brother  0.  knot  at  ending  church.  Satisfaction  was  given 
by  his  wife  who  stated  that  it  was  oing  to  his  afflictions. ' ' 

In  September,  1848,  the  church  came  to  an  open  affiliation 
with  the  Disciples. 

' '  A  motion  for  a  letter  to  be  sent  to  the  Bethel  Conference  for 
membership  into  that  body  which  was  done  and  then  agreed 
Brother  Terry  to  bear  the  same." 

In  October,  1849,  Henry  T.  Brown  was  elected  Church  Clerk. 
His  expression  upon  assuming  that  function  is  of  interest.  "I 
now  take  my  pen  in  hand  as  clerk  of  the  church  at  Oak  Grove 
and  can  only  say  that  I  hope  the  Lord  will  guide  my  heart  as 
well  as  my  pen  in  the  path  of  truth  and  holiness  that  after 
weighting  on  a  Christian  church  that  I  myself  might  not  be  a 
castaway. ' ' 

In  March,  1850,  they  expressed  a  sense  of  obligation  to  their 
pastor.  ' '  On  motion  agreed  that  we  give  John  A.  Leggett  some- 
thing at  our  next  meeting  for  his  faithful  attendance  on  our 
church  as  an  emblem  of  our  good  wishes  and  the  respect  we  have 
for  him." 

An  instance  showing  their  conscientious  adherence  to  a  prin- 
ciple in  their  decorum  was  in  the  minutes  for  July,  1850. 

"A  difference  having  taken  place  between  R. —  and  B. —  and 
T. —  of  this  church,  it  having  bin  brought  forward  before  taking 
the  stepts  of  the  Gospil  it  was  thode  out  by  a  motion  to  that 
effect.  On  motion,  agreed  that  they  procede  to  take  gospil 
order. ' ' 

Unfavorable  weather  sometimes  hindered  Church  attendance. 

"Saturday  before  the  4th  Lord's  day  in  February  1853  there 
was  no  conference  held  owing  to  a  grate  rain  and  mutch  water 
in  the  swamp." 

Here  and  there  we  found  brief  eulogies.  May,  1858:  "Our 
Sister  Judah  Britten  departed  this  life  the  next  weeke  I  think 
after  March  Meeting.  Our  Sister  had  bin  a  very  attentive  mem- 
ber ever  since  she  joined  the  church  and  was  always  apt  to  fill 
her  seat  at  meeting.     There  never  has  aught  bin  found  against 


254  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

her  since  she  joined  the  church  that  writer  knows  of.  Her 
daughter  dide  only  about  a  fort  nit  before  she  did,  who  was  for- 
merly a  member  of  this  church  but  had  taken  a  letter  of  dis- 
mission, who  we  have  not  aught  against."  June,  1871:  "On 
motion  the  name  of  Catharine  Crandel  was  erased  from  the 
church  roll  on  account  of  her  passage  across  the  cold  river  of 
death,  with  all  the  honors  of  a  devoted  Christian."  Occasion- 
ally the  cause  of  one's  death  was  indicated.  January,  1854: 
"Our  Sister  Tillitha  Keel  expired  the  fore  part  of  January, 
1854.  She  had  bin  subject  to  spasm  for  several  years  whitch  we 
suppose  was  the  cause  of  her  death." 

They  found  another  recruit  to  the  ministry.  November, 
1859:  "On  motion  agreed  that  Brother  Thomas  Eobuck  bee  sit 
at  liberty  to  exercise  in  the  ministry,  wherein  we  trust  he  is  cald 
and  that  he  exercise  freely  at  this  plase  and  that  he  receive  a 
surtificate  to  that  efect,  Whome  we  commend  to  whomsoever  it 
may  come." 

Stanley  Ayers  had  been  chosen  as  their  pastor,  October,  1859. 
In  the  meeting,  the  following  March  they  showed  their  apprecia- 
tion of  their  new  pastor.  ' '  After  list  being  cald  we  then  threwe 
in  a  small  amount  to  our  pastor,  Brother  Ayrs." 

In  March,  1863,  it  was  recorded:  "In  consequence  of  the  war 
which  has  been  raging  so  long  in  our  once  happy  country  this 
record  has  been  neglected,  since  the  clerk  and  pastor  have  both 
been  absent  for  a  long  time." 

In  August,  1863,  J.  J.  Harper  held  them  a  meeting  with 
twenty-one  additions,  "by  which  the  church  was  much  revived." 
March,  1864,  "Josephus  Latham  was  chosen  unanimously  pastor 
of  the  church  during  the  time  that  Bro.  S.  Ayers  remains  in  the 
War."  That  summer  they  "had  some  additions  by  letter  the 
persons  having  been  baptized  in  the  army." 

They  endeavored  to  establish  systematic  giving.  November, 
1868:  "Motion  agreed  that  every  quarterly  meeting  on  Satur- 
day should  be  a  day  of  contribution  with  the  members  of  this 
church  to  pay  to  the  treasurer  according  as  the  Lord  has  pros- 
pered them."  May,  1869:  "Motion  agreed  that  colection  be 
taken  up  monthly  among  the  members  at  this  place  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  poor  members  to  be  payd  to  the  tresuer  of  this 
church." 


EARLY   TIMES   IN   EARLY    CHURCHES  255 

Their  action  toward  the  ministry  in  September,  1870,  is  of 
interest.  "On  motion  the  church  of  Oak  Grove  shall  not  be 
closed  against  any  of  our  preachers,  while  in  fellowship  with 
any  of  the  Disciple  Churches,  unreported,  untried,  and  has  a 
license  and  ordination  from  the  church  to  which  he  or  they  may 
belong. ' ' 

Oak  Grove  would  not  have  the  Brotherhood  unmindful  of  the 
providence  of  God,  manifest  in  fruitful  seasons  and  the  increas- 
ing prosperity  of  His  people.  September,  1871:  "On  motion 
the  congregation  worshiping  at  Oak  Grove  send  a  request  to  the 
general  conference  that  they  pass  a  standing  throughout  the 
bounds  of  the  said  conference  to  set  two  days  each  year,  one  in 
the  Spring  and  one  in  the  fall  to  ask — 1st,  the  blessing  of  God 
upon  our  labors,  and  the  2nd  to  return  thanks  for  blessings 
rec'd." 

Welche's  Creek 

This  church  was  located  in  Martin  County,  about  three  miles 
south  of  the  present  village  of  Dardens.1  It  was  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  the  stream  of  "Welche's  Creek,  the  dividing  line  be- 
tween Martin  and  Washington  Counties.  McLawhorn  percosin 
was  in  the  rear.  Out  of  this  congregation,  which  has  long  since 
disappeared,  came  Christian  Hope  in  Washington  County,  and 
Poplar  Chapel,  in  Martin  County,  Churches  built  by  Disciples. 

The  old  frame  meeting  house  of  Welche's  Creek  was  consid- 
ered a  large  building.  It  was  weather  boarded  with  pine  boards 
one  inch  thick.  It  never  had  a  stove  in  it.  It  would  seat  about 
150  whites.  The  "shed,"  provided  for  the  negroes  at  the  side 
would  seat  about  100  of  the  colored  people.  This  was  at  the 
left  of  the  "preacher's  stand,"  forming  part  of  the  auditorium. 
All  of  the  "benches"  were  simple  frame  boards  without  backs. 
Lengthy  sermons  were  the  order  of  the  day.  Tallow  candles 
gave  the  evening  light.  The  pulpit  "stand"  was  characteristi- 
cally tall.  It  was  on  a  platform  elevated  four  feet  from  the  main 
floor.  There  was  but  one  glass  window.  It  was  back  of  the 
pulpit,  in  the  gable  end  of  the  house.  Other  "windows"  were 
made  of  boards  nailed  together,  operating  on  hinges  according 
to  the  requirements  for  ventilation  and  light.  When  ceremonial 
feet-washing  was  administered  there  was  no  mingling  of  the 
races.  The  blacks  exercised  in  this  on  their  side  of  the  "color 
line,"  in  the  "shed." 


256  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

The  minutes  of  Welche's  Creek  which  we  discovered  begin 
with  December,  1836.  How  long  the  Church  had  existed  before 
this,  we  do  not  know.  It  was  first  enrolled  by  the  Bethel  Confer- 
ence in  1830.  John  M.  Gnrganus  was  the  pastor  when  our  rec- 
ords began.  Frances  Ange  resigned  the  Eldership.  Gabriel 
Ange  and  Wiley  Moore  were  chosen  as  the  Elders.  The  member- 
ship list  did  not  appear  until  March,  1845.  Twelve  heads  of 
families  were  given  on  the  register  then  as  follows :  Ange,  Bate- 
man,  Browning,  Cayton,  Cooper,  Garnet,  Griffin.  Gurganus, 
Holis,  Moore,  Salenger,  and  Waters. 

In  September,  1837,  they  asked  the  Bethel  Conference  to  meet 
with  them  in  1838.  The  minute  read:  "On  motion  of  brother 
Gabriel  Ange  agreed  that  a  pertishion  be  sent  in  letter  for  the 
next  General  Conference  to  be  held  at  Martin  County  Christian 
Union  Meeting  House."  The  Conference  did  not  come  to  them 
in  1838.    It  did,  however,  in  1842. 

A  well  is  a  necessity  for  a  country  church.  So  we  found  this 
curious  entry  for  September,  1838. 

' '  On  motion  agreed  that  brother  Bryant  Watters  and  Charles 
Watters  shold  be  exsempt  from  their  tribit  for  three  years,  1836, 
1837,  1838  which  is  50c  per  year  wich  amounts  to  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents.  They  receive  50c  from  the  nabors  round  wich  the 
hole  amounts  two  dollars  for  Diging  a  well  for  the  use  of  the 
church."     The  laborers  were  "worthy"  of  their  hire. 

William  C.  Gardner  often  preached  to  them.  He  was  con- 
cerned about  attendance  in  the  "quarterly  meetings."  June, 
1840:  "On  motion  of  brother  Gardner  agreed  that  if  any  mem- 
ber fales  attending  two  quarterly  meetings  they  shall  be  liable 
to  show  cause  for  their  non  attendance.  And  if  they  miss  three 
quarterly  meetings  they  shall  be  sited  in  to  the  conference  to 
show  cause  why  they  do  so." 

Unpaid  church  pledges  troubled  them.  They  would  sometimes 
call  for  a  fresh  start.  September,  1843 :  ' '  On  motion  agreed 
that  the  sums  subscribed  to  the  Church  subscription  that  is  not 
pade  shall  waste  off  up  to  the  date  1844  and  start  from  that 
date." 

There  was  once  a  strange  divergence  in  the  form  of  baptism 
which  came  under  congregational  discipline.  September,  1844: 
"Brother  Jacob  Tench  reported  that  agreeable  to  orders  he  had 
served  a  sitation  on  brother  William  C.  Gardner  to  this  con- 


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Group,  Ministers  of  1898 


This    group    was    at    the    State    Convention    of    the    Churches    of    Christ    at    Salem 
Church,   near  Grifton,   1898. 

Bach    Bow.    from    left    to    right:    L.    M.    Omer,    M.    S.    Spear,    Geo.    T.    Tyson.    J.    R. 
Tingle.    R.    W.    Staneill,   H.   S.   Davenport,   Willis  R.   Williams,   and   W.    G.    Johnston. 

Middle  Bow,   left   to  right:   Malcomson   Pittman,    S    W.    Sumrell,   Isaac   L.   Chestnutt. 
J.  F.   Cross,  J.  B.  Greemvade,  and  T.  W.  Phillips. 

Front  Row,  left  to  right:  J.  S.  Henderson,  C.  W.  Howard,  B.  H. 
James  Butchart  (missionary  on  furlough  from  China),  I.  W.  Rogers,  W. 
and   Joseph   Kinsey. 

They  were  all  ministers  except  Willis  R.  Williams.  T.  W.  Phillips,  W. 
and  Joseph  Kinsey,  who  were  representative  laymen. 


Melton,     Dr. 
J.   Crumpler, 


J.   Crumpler, 


Carolina  Institute  at  Old  Ford 


EARLY    TIMES    IN   EARLY    CHURCHES  257 

ference  whitch  case  was  laid  before  the  church  and  demanded 
his  credentials  for  baptizing  3  persons  by  pouring  water  on  their 
heads  and  contending  to  the  correctness  of  the  form  by  saying 
he  could  find  as  much  scripture  to  for  baptizing  by  pouring  as 
Elder  Gurganus  could  by  imersion  and  said  he  had  no  remourse 
of  conscience  for  the  act  he  had  comited. ' ' 

In  March,  1848,  James  Moore  was  chosen  Assistant  Clerk,  and 
Elder,  and  Malachi  Ange  was  made  an  Elder. 

Pleasant  Hill 

This  church  in  Jones  County  is  located  about  sixteen  miles 
southeast  of  Kinston.  The  minutes  we  have  are  meager.  The 
details  of  the  earliest  years  of  Pleasant  Hill  were  supplied  in  a 
letter  by  W.  G.  Fordham,  Sr.,  written  in  1897.  He  worshiped 
in  the  church  from  her  beginning.  He  said  the  first  church 
building  there  was  erected  in  1837  or  '38.  Dempsey  Morgan 
was  the  carpenter.  It  began  as  a  Free  Will  Baptist  Church. 
They  occupied  the  meeting  house  of  the  Quakers  prior  to  the 
building  of  their  own. 

Nine  family  names  were  on  the  original  roll  of  Pleasant  Hill 
given  by  Fordham.  They  were  Adams,  Brown,  Fordham,  Good- 
ing, Jarman,  Stricklin,  Tindall,  Turner,  and  West  brook. 

The  first  preachers  at  Pleasant  Hill  were  Robert  Bond,  John 
P.  Dunn,  Thos.  J.  Latham,  and  Henry  Smith.  After  them  came 
John  B.  Gaylord,  John  Jarman,  E.  S.  F.  Giles,  Josephus  Latham, 
Jesse  T.  Davis,  Peter  E.  Hines,  and  William  Heath. 

The  first  Elder  was  Emanuel  Jarman.  First  Deacons  were 
William  Brown  and  William  Gooding.  Recruits  to  their  mem- 
bership from  1838-40  were  the  families  of  Joseph  Kinsey,  Sr., 
and  John  Jarman.  Fordham  said:  "About  the  year  1842, 
Brethren  Stephen  Gooding  and  Furney  Stricklin  and  J.  H. 
Kinsey  and  myself  were  all  baptized  the  same  day. ' '  Some  later 
officers  in  this  early  period  were  J.  H.  Kinsey,  W.  Ballard,  W. 
G.  Fordham,  Sr.,  Cyrus  Brown,  Stephen  Gooding,  David  King, 
W.  B.  Nunn,  Isaac  Gooding,  and  Benjamin  Brown. 

Fordham  said:  "During  the  war  the  last  pastor  we  had  was 
Bro.  P.  E.  Hines  up  to  the  Spring  of  1862,  when  the  Yankees 
took  New  Bern ;  then  he  failed  to  come  any  more."  J.  J.  Harper 
also  preached  here  some  during  the  War  period.  Much  of  the 
time  they  "kept  the  church  together  by  holding  prayer  meet- 


258  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

ing. ' '  After  the  war  ' '  the  people  seemed  to  be  ripe  for  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ."  So  Josephus  Latham  held  for  them  a  meeting 
with  sixty  additions.  After  that  he  was  their  pastor  for  two 
years.  He  was  followed  by  Joseph  H.  Foy  and  Moses  T.  Moye. 
In  1868,  Joseph  Kinsey  and  Jos.  H.  Foy,  were  associated  in 
conducting  "The  Pleasant  Hill  Academy,"  using  this  old  meet- 
ing house  of  the  Pleasant  Hill  Disciples  as  their  only  building 
equipment.  It  was  here  that  Senator  F.  M.  Simmons  received 
a  part  of  his  elementary  training. 

Notes 

information  from  personal  interview  of  the  author  with  A.   B.   Waters, 
Dardens,   N.   C. 


Chapter  XXVIII 
KINSTON,  BROAD  CREEK,  AND  CONCORD  (PAMLICO) 

KlNSTON 

Little  Sister  was  the  name  of  a  Baptist  Church  which  con- 
tinued for  some  years  from  about  1830  in  the  Neuse  Association. 
Its  "meeting  house"  was  located  about  seven  miles  north  of 
Kinston.  It  was  used  also  for  the  community  school.  It  is 
said  that  the  building  was  adapted  as  part  of  the  present  resi- 
dence of  Heber  Worthington,  present  Sheriff  of  Lenoir  County. 

The  minutes  recorded  the  founding  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
at  this  place  with  her  covenant  as  follows : 

We  whose  names  are  hereunto  annexed,  having  heretofore  been  bap- 
tized, upon  a  confession  of  our  faith  in  Christ,  as  the  only  Savior  of 
sinners,  believing  it  to  be  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  our  mutual  comfort 
and  edification,  to  be  constituted  into  a  gospel  church,  founded  on  the 
Apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  being  the  chief  corner  stone,  have  called 
on  Elders  Robert  Bond,  and  J.  P.  Dunn  to  officiate  and  set  us  apart 
according  to  gospel  order,  at  Little  Sister  Meeting  House,  on  the  21st 
day  of  January,  1843. 

1st.  We  take  the  scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  to  be  the 
word  of  God,  the  revealed  will  of  God  to  man,  and  the  only  proper  rules 
of  our   faith  and  practice   as   Christians. 

2nd.  We  do  solemnly  agree  to  give  ourselves  to  the  Lord  and  to  one 
another.  Submitting  ourselves  to  the  government  of  Christ  as  the  King 
and  Head  of  His  church. 

3rd.  That  we  will  endeavor  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the 
bond  of  peace  avoiding  all  discord  or  cause  of  disunion. 

4th.  We  promise  to  maintain  Christian  communion  and  fellowship  with 
each  other  in  the  public  worship  of  God;  not  the  forsaking  the  assembling 
of  ourselves  together ;  but  embracing  all  regular,  convenient  seasons  for 
this  purpose,  as  the  providence  of  God  shall  permit.  And  we  will  exer- 
cise Christian  forbearance  and  love  one  towards  another,  praying  for  and 
sympathising  with  each  other  in  our  various  circumstances  of  life  using 
every  laudable  means  to  provoke  to  love  and  good  works. 

5th.  We  promise  individually  to  pay  a  respectful  regard  to  the  ad- 
vice and  admonitions  of  the  church,  and  to  be  subject  to  its  discipline 
as  laid  down  in  the  New  Testament  when  exercised  in  the  spirit  of  the 
gospel. 

259 


260  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

6th.  We  do  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  solemnly  agree  to  the  above  con- 
stitution adhering  to  it,  as  far  as  God  may  enable  us,  and  whosoever 
amongst  us  shall  be  found  deviating  therefrom,  shall  be  dealt  with  as  the 
law  of  Christ  directs. 

The  roll  of  nine  Charter  members  "annexed"  was  as  follows: 
"Male  Members — Jacob  Parrott,  Senr.,  Robert  Bond,  Walter 
Dunn,  Senr.,  John  A.  Parrott.  Female  Members — Cynthia 
Dunn,  Patsy  Dudley,  Elizabeth  Bond,  Lany  Jones,  Persis 
Parrott. ' ' 

From  the  beginning  this  congregation  met  at  Kinston  and 
was  called  the  Church  of  Christ.  They  erected  a  Chapel  at  the 
corner  of  Gordon  and  Heritage  Streets,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Neuse  River.  By  May  13,  1843,  there  had  been  nineteen  addi- 
tions to  the  original  group.  Meetings  in  the  Summer  of  1843 
added  eight  more  whites  and  three  slaves.  The  first  officers 
chosen  were :  Robert  Bond,  Elder ;  Jacob  Parrott,  Sr.,  and  Green 
Taylor,  Deacons ;  and  John  A.  Parrott,  Recorder.  A  few  years 
later,  (August  1848)  "Walter  Dunn,  Sr.,  and  John  McKinney 
were  appointed  additional  Elders. 

The  first  preaching  was  done  by  John  P.  Dunn,  Wm.  Rhem, 
and  Robert  Bond.  Other  ministers  serving  them  at  an  early 
date  were  E.  S.  F.  Giles,  Henry  Smith,  and  John  Jarman.  The 
office  of  "pastor"  was  but  little  known  in  that  day,  the  elder- 
ship for  the  most  part  functioning  in  that  capacity.  The  mem- 
bership at  Kinston  grew  from  the  evangelistic  meetings  held 
by  John  P.  Dunn  and  others  at  Little  Sister.  They  adopted 
the  second  Sunday  in  each  month  as  their  "preaching  day." 
The  Saturday  before  each  second  Sunday  wTas  to  be  used  in 
congregational  meetings  for  "mutual  edification  of  the  church" 
by  fellowship  and  devotion  to  Bible  study.  The  first  lesson 
assigned  was  the  first  four  chapters  of  Luke. 

The  Kinston  church  from  the  beginning  has  been  widely 
interested  in  State  activities.  In  1846,  a  "preaching  day"  was 
postponed,  "owing  to  persons  wishing  to  attend  conference  at 
Post  Oak,  Craven  County." 

They  joyfully  observed  a  certain  command  of  the  Lord. 
March  1847:  "Preaching  from  Elder  Bond  after  which  we 
proceeded  to  the  water  for  the  purpose  of  baptizing  Brother 
Noah  Dunn  and  wife.  This  is  very  cold  for  March  but  the  young 
converts  do  not  seem  to  shrink  from  their  dutv  and  wish  to 


EARLY    TIMES   IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  261 

wait  for  a  more  convenient  time  but  seem  to  be  in  the  spirit 
of  the  man  of  former  days  who  said  here  is  water  what  doth 
hinder  me  from  being  baptized." 

The  temperance  crusade  came,  and  there  was  fine  response. 
August,  1847:  "We  had  a  lecture  upon  Teetotal  abstinance 
from  all  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage,  from  Brother  E.  S. 
F.  Giles,  after  which  45  signed  the  pledge  composed  of  men 
and  women." 

John  B.  Gay  lord  was  their  first  resident  preacher.  He 
preached  his  first  sermon  to  them  January,  1848.  He  and  his 
wife  Ann  Gaylord  were  "received  as  members  of  this  Church," 
the  following  August. 

In  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  they  desired  a  unani- 
mous Church.  October,  1848;  "Resolved  by  the  church  that 
the  church  list  shall  be  called  at  every  stated  meeting  on  the 
second  Lord's  Day  in  every  month  before  breaking  the  loaf  and 
the  absentees  noted  to  give  the  reason  of  their  non-attendance 
at  the  next  meeting."  Also  at  this  meeting  "W.  B.  Wellons,  of 
Suffolk,  Virginia,  minister  of  the  Christian  Connection  preached 
to  them. 

Evening  services  were  held  by  the  ordinary  candlelight.  Oc- 
tober 24,  1848;  "Jacob  Parrott  paid  to  J.  B.  Gaylord;  For 
candlesticks  for  Church  use,  $2.25 ;  for  candles  for  Church  use, 
thirty  cents."  Likewise  in  May  following,  $1.40,  "to  J.  B. 
Gaylord  to  seven  pounds,  candles." 

Their  first  Elder,  Robert  Bond  died  on  April  7,  1849.  At 
their  next  monthly  meeting  they  held  a  memorial  service  for 
him. 

In  February,  1851,  Jesse  P.  Neville,  State  Evangelist,  first 
appeared  in  their  pulpit.  In  April  following  they  paid  him 
twenty  dollars,  which  was  half  of  their  apportionment  for  State 
Evangelizing  for  that  current  year. 

A  minute  for  April,  1851,  John  B.  Gaylord,  Recorder,  was 
as  follows :  "It  was  agreed  by  the  church  that  Friday  before 
the  4th  Lord's  Day  in  the  present  month  was  set  apart  for  the 
church  to  fast  and  pray  in  behalf  of  the  church." 

Kinston  was  soon  the  parent  organization  to  a  new  church. 
July  1851:  "Sisters  Elizabeth  Bond,  Julia  Bond,  and  Martha 
Harvey  applied  for  letters  of  dismission.  And  also  Sister  Sarah 
Jones  and  Brother  Mathias  Harvey  and  was  granted  by  the 


262  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

church  for  the  purpose  of  constituting  a  church  at  the  Rose  of 
Sharon  Meeting  House,  Lenoir  County,  North  Carolina." 

The  District  Co-operation  Meeting  was  held  in  their  church, 
November,  1851.  Three  hundred  and  thirty  dollars  in  total 
cash  offerings  was  reported.  They  planned  to  employ  an  evan- 
gelist. This  was  the  fund  which  brought  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh  to 
the  State  the  next  Spring. 

Adversities  of  weather  affected  their  church  services.  Fifth 
Lord's  Day  in  November,  1851:  "No  preaching  on  account  of 
very  rainy  day." 

Dr.  Walsh  preached  his  first  sermon  in  their  pulpit,  April  11, 
1852.  May,  1852:  "This  church  also  agreed  to  be  one  of  a 
specified  number  to  sustain  Brother  Walsh  as  an  evangelist 
during  the  balance  of  the  Conferential  year  or  till  the  middle 
of  October." 

After  the  death  of  John  B.  Gaylord,  "much  esteemed  friend 
and  brother,"  there  was  a  break  of  more  than  a  year  in  the 
Clerk's  record.  James  W.  Parrott  was  chosen  Clerk.  He  began 
his  minutes  as  follows:  "The  church  believing  it  to  be  their 
duty  to  elect  a  clerk  and  believing  me  worthy  to  act  as  such, 
therefore  I  was  chosen  at  September  meeting  1853.  I  pray  God 
to  aid  me  in  the  discharge  of  the  duty  conferred  on  me  that  I 
may  meet  the  unanimous  approbation  of  all  the  members  of  the 
church  of  Kinston. ' ' 

In  February,  1854,  they  were  visited  by  Isaac  Moore,  "who 
addressed  the  audience  at  Considerable  length  on  Bible  re- 
vision." This  was  arranged  by  Dr.  Walsh.  Disciple  leaders 
were  enthusiastic  about  the  plan  of  Bible  revision. 

In  time  they  had  to  attend  to  improvement  of  their  building. 
August,  1858:  "At  the  regular  Quarterly  Meeting,  the  Church 
resolved  to  draw  up  a  subscription  for  repairing  and  enclosing 
the  meeting  house."  By  May,  1859,  over  five  hundred  dollars 
had  been  raised  for  building  repair,  of  which  two  hundred 
and  twenty  dollars  and  three  cents  was  "Amount  received  from 
Ladies  Fare." 

In  1859,  the  officers  were:  Elders,  Reuben  Barrow,  James 
W.  Cox,  and  James  M.  Harper;  Deacons,  Green  Taylor  and 
Moses  W.  Campbell.  In  February,  1859,  R.  W.  King  became 
church  clerk.  The  Trustees  then  were :  Reuben  Barrow,  James 
W.  Cox  and  Green  Taylor.     In  May,  1859,  these  trustees  were 


EARLY    TIMES   IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  263 

empowered  by  action  of  the  church  to  "make  a  compromise 
with  W. — concerning  that  portion  of  church  lot  which  was  sold 
off  by  said  W. — after  he  had  given  a  deed  to  the  church  on  the 
best  terms  they  can  and  that  the  action  of  said  trustees  in 
making  said  compromise  to  be  final." 

In  September,  1864,  George  Joyner  was  chosen  pastor.  In- 
vited by  a  member  of  the  Third  Regiment,  North  Carolina  Home 
Guards,  he  "visited  that  Regt.  at  3:00  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
(November  27,  1864)  and  preached  to  a  large  and  attentive 
congregation,  from  the  104th  Psalm." 

In  December,  1867,  the  church  "extended  an  unanimous  wish 
for  Brother  Battle  (Amos  J.  Battle)  to  preach  for  them  regu- 
larly on  the  second  Lord's  Day  in  each  month." 

August  1st,  1868 :  ' '  Disciples  met  in  their  church  at  early 
candle  light.  Preaching  by  Bro.  J.  H.  Foy."  This  was  the  first 
appearance  in  the  Kinston  pulpit  of  Dr.  Foy. 

Virgil  A.  Wilson  came  as  evangelist  in  May,  1870.  The 
Second  and  Third  Districts  held  a  combination  "union  Meet- 
ing" here  then,  to  which  Wilson  gave  some  "powerful"  dis- 
courses. Of  the  last  evening  it  was  said :  ' '  Brother  Wilson 
again  preached  and  his  reasoning  was  so  clear  and  strong  the 
following  named  persons  came  forward  at  the  close  of  the  dis- 
course and  made  the  good  confession  and  received  as  candidates 
for  baptism,  viz:  Andrew  J.  Loftin,  George  E.  Rountree  and 
Betsy  Watson." 

The  following  minute  of  July  30,  1870,  showed  the  calling 
of  their  first,  full-time  minister. 

Bro.  S.  H.  Rountree  proceeded  to  make  a  statement  to  the  confer- 
ence how  long  the  church  had  been  without  a  pastor  and  the  great  neces- 
sity of  electing  one,  when  it  was  moved  and  seconded  that  Bro.  Joseph 
H.  Foy  be  elected  to  that  position,  and  upon  its  being  put  by  the 
Moderator,  he  was  declaimed  unanimously  elected  pastor  of  the  church 
of  Christ  at  Kinston,  and  they  further  pledged  themselves  to  pay  him 
eight  hundred  dollars,  for  his  services,  requiring  him  to  preach  every 
Lord  's   day. 

Foy  resigned  by  reason  of  "declining  health"  in  May,  1871. 
The  church  "reluctantly"  accepted  this  and  in  a  resolution 
expressed,  "their  high  appreciation  of  the  ability,  zeal  and 
Christian  fervor  that  has  characterized  the  pulpit  and  private 
ministrations  of  our  esteemed  brother." 


264  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

Early  in  1870,  the  Disciples  moved  their  original  house  of 
meeting,  to  a  Caswell  Street  site.  Josephus  Latham  in  a  letter 
to  Moses  T.  Moye  dated  April  12,  1870  said:  "Kinston  Church 
house  is  moved  to  a  better  part  of  town."1 

J.  J.  Harper  first  appeared  in  the  record  as  preaching  there, 
December  10,  1872.  Sixteen  years  later  he  was  called  as  their 
pastor,  and  served  them  while  they  built  the  new  brick  church 
on  Caswell  Street. 

Moses  T.  Moye  was  seen  in  the  records  for  the  first  time  under 
date  of  August  10,  1873.  Some  other  ministers  serving  them 
before  completion  of  their  Caswell  Street  plant  in  1894  were: 
Dr.  H.  D.  Harper,  C.  W.  Howard,  E.  E.  Orvis,  and  H.  C. 
Bowen.    C.  W.  Howard  preached  first  for  them  on  July  16,  1876. 

Occasionally  the  clerk  was  complimentary  in  his  remarks. 
Commenting  on  the  preaching  of  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh,  June  20, 
1880,  he  (N.  D.  Myers)  wrote:  "The  Dr.  then  spread  himself 
and  preached  a  most  excellent  sermon  as  usual." 

F.  M.  Green  on  his  mission  to  reorganize  the  State  Mission- 
ary Service  preached  here  September  21,  1883. 

George  Joyner  came  for  a  second  ministry  in  January,  1885, 
but  died  September  17,  that  year.  Then  the  business  of  the 
church  was  put  into  the  hands  of  a  Committee  composed  of  Dr. 
J.  T.  Walsh,  A.  J.  Loftin,  D.  R.  Jackson,  Dr.  H.  D.  Harper, 
H.  C.  Bowen,  of  this  congregation,  and  Brothers  J.  M.  Mew- 
borne,  and  N.  J.  Rouse,  resident  Disciples,  who  were  "re- 
quested to  act  with  the  officers  of  the  church  in  the  transaction 
of  business  till  the  end  of  the  present  Convention  year." 

Their  growth  demanded  new  equipment.  June  26,  1886 : 
"Brethren  A.  J.  Loftin,  Jas.  E.  Nunn,  D.  R.  Jackson,  N.  J. 
Rouse,  and  J.  F.  Dupree  were  appointed  to  consider  cost,  style, 
etc.,  of  a  better  house  of  worship  and  take  steps  towards 
building. ' ' 

A  loan  was  negotiated  and  construction  was  satisfactorily 
completed.    May  22,  1892  : 

The  church  adopted  the  following  resolution :  Whereas  we  the  congre- 
gation of  Disciples  of  Christ,  in  Kinston,  North  Carolina,  are  in  need  of 
money  to  aid  in  completing  our  church  house  now  in  course  of  erection, 
therefore  resolved  that  J.  J.  Harper,  J.  F.  Mewborne,  E.  M.  Hodges, 
N.  J.  Rouse,  S.  H.  Loftin,  Dr.  H.  D.  Harper,  the  Building  Committee 
here  to  fore  appointed  by  this  congregation  to  contract  for  and  direct 
the   building    of   said   house    of   worship,    and    to    pay    for    the    same    out 


EARLY    TIMES   IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  265 

of  any  funds  coming  into  their  hands  for  that  purpose,  and  now  acting 
as  said  building  committee,  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  and  em- 
powered to  borrow  on  such  terms  as  they  think  proper  whatever  amount 
of  money  may  be  necessary  to  aid  in  completing  said  church  house,  and 
to  mortgage  and  convey,  as  security,  said  house  and  the  land  on  which 
it  is  situated,  being  lot  No.  -11 ;  in  the  plot  and  survey  of  the  Town 
of  Kinston,  and  to  act  for  this  congregation  in  all  matters  necessary  and 
proper  to  obtain  said  funds  and  to  bind  said  church  property  as  security 
to  the  party  loaning  such  funds.  Adopted  by  a  majority  of  members 
present  on  a  rising  vote. 

Broad  Creek 

This  church  is  five  miles  east  of  New  Bern,  in  Pamlico  County. 
It  was  organized  by  Henry  Smith  on  January  6,  1844.  Enoch 
Holton  was  the  first  Elder,  and  William  Barrington  was  the 
first  Clerk  and  Treasurer.  The  original  roll  shows  seventeen 
heads  of  families  as  follows:  Barrington,  Brinson,  Cat  on, 
Canady,  Cuthrell,  Cutler,  Daw,  Dunn,  Edwards,  Everington, 
Fulcher,  Gaskins,  Hartley,  Holton,  Simons,  Thomas,  and  West. 

In  1844,  Craven  County  embraced  the  territory  of  Broad 
Creek  Church.     Pamlico  County  was  not  formed  until  1872. 

Following  was  the  Clerk's  rendering  of  the  agreements  rat- 
ified at  the  founding  of  the  church : 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Craven  County. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  resolutions  by  which  the  church  of  Christ 
at  Broad  Creek  consent  to  be  governed  by.  (Set  your  affections  on  things 
above). 

1st.  Resolve — That  the  members  which  constitute  the  church  of  Christ 
at  Broad  Creek  wishes  to  live  through  life 's  uncertain  length  in  Christian 
love  and  union  and  live  in  peace  with  every  man.  As  furforth  as  lies  in 
their   power. 

2nd.  Resolve — That  we  the  members  of  this  body,  the  church  agrees 
to  take  the  Bible  for  our  Criterion  and  guide  to  be  governed  and  guided 
by  it,  and  it  alone. 

3rd.  Resolve — That  our  position  is  an  elevated  one  and  our  mission 
pure,  our  calling  is  of  God  and  the  end  everlasting  life.  Therefore,  we  as 
brethren  and  sisters  let  us  press  towards  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the 
high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  Whose  essence  is  love  and  whose 
delight  the  eternal  happiness  of  all  those  who  love  and  obey  Him. 

4th.  Resolve — Let  us  love  one  another.  For  if  we  love  one  another 
God  dwelleth  in  us  and  His  love  is  perfected  in  us.  Let  us  therefore  not 
love  in  word  but  in  deed  and  in  truth  for  our  religion  consists  not  in 
opinions  but  in   assurances,  not   in   speculation   but   in  practice.     So   then 


266  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

let  us  search  the  Scriptures  for  in  them  you  think  ye  have  eternal  life 
and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me. 

5th.  Resolve — That  each  member's  name  shall  be  enrolled  in  this 
book. 

6th.  Resolve — That  when  any  person  or  persons  who  may  join  the 
church  that  their  name  or  names  shall  be  enrolled,  also  when  they  were 
baptized. 

7th.  Resolve — That  if  any  member  dies  his  name  shall  be  dismissed 
on  the  account  of  their  death  and  that  the  clerk  shall  keep  an  account 
of  all  the  proceedings  carried  on  by  the  church  or  in  the  church. 

8th.  Resolve — That  if  any  member  or  members  who  may  not  or  who 
will  not  attend  regular  to  the  church,  that  member  or  members  shall 
make  known  the  cause  why  they  do  not  attend. 

9th.  Resolve — That  the  church  by  a  vote  agrees  and  sanctions  those 
resolutions. 

John  B.  Gaylord  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  here,  October 
5,  1845,  the  pastor  Henry  Smith,  and  Enoch  Holton,  officiating. 
Gaylord  was  then  a  coach-maker  in  New  Bern.  Later  he  re- 
moved to  Kinston  and  was  the  Disciples'  first  resident  preacher 
in  Kinston. 

Broad  Creek  affiliated  with  the  Disciples  from  the  beginning. 
After  the  Disciple  merger  with  the  Free  Will  Baptists  in  1845, 
Jacob  Utley  sought  to  effect  a  reaction  at  Broad  Creek  to  the 
Free  Will  order.  This  was  prevented  by  the  faithful  Henry 
Smith  and  Enoch  Holton.2 

The  Church  was  reorganized  on  January  1,  1866.  Isaac  Hol- 
ton was  chosen  pastor,  also  Clerk ;  and  Alonzo  J.  Holton  was 
chosen  assistant  Clerk.  William  Dunn  was  appointed  Elder; 
and  J.  B.  Holton  and  Jesse  L.  Barrington  were  appointed 
Deacons. 

Alonzo  J.  Holton  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  in  this  church, 
October  9,  1866.  He  is  the  oldest  living  minister  of  the  North 
Carolina  Disciples  of  Christ.  He  is  a  charter  member  of  the 
North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Society. 

George  Joyner,  in  a  "Tour"  of  Pamlico  County,  preached  at 
this  church  in  October,  1854.3  After  his  visit  he  said  of  Broad 
Creek:  "There  are  some  excellent  brethren  in  the  church  there 
— praying  brethren — those  whose  hearts  are  interested  in  the 
cause  of  Christ  and  the  conversion  of  sinners.  May  the  good 
Shepherd  watch  over  them  for  good." 


EARLY    TIMES    IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  267 

Joyner  was  grateful  for  the  many  years  of  good  service  by 
Henry  Smith  in  planting  the  cause  in  that  region.  He  com- 
mented:4 "While  traveling  through  those  bogs  and  swamps,  I 
often  thought  of  the  travels  and  fatigue  to  which  our  aged  and 
venerable  bro.  Smith  has  been  exposed.  Ah!  my  aged  brother, 
you  have  toiled  long  and  faithfully  in  the  cause  of  our  Master; 
you  have  taken  many  weary  steps  in  his  service ;  and  your  sal- 
vation is  nearer  than  when  you  first  commenced." 

Concord  (Pamlico) 

This  church  is  in  Pamlico  County  near  the  rural  postoffice  of 
Florence.  It  was  originally  constituted  as  a  Free  Will  Baptist 
Church  in  1802  by  Joseph  Smith  and  James  Roach.  The  orig- 
inal building  stood  on  Moore's  Creek  near  its  confluence  with 
Chapel  Creek.  The  old  building,  constructed  of  "heart  pine" 
yet  stands.  The  present  Concord  plant  of  the  Disciples  is  at 
a  near-by  site. 

Henry  Smith  came  here  and  organized  the  Disciple  group  in 
April,  1844.  Robert  Whorton  of  Whortonsville,  born  February 
28,  1835,  was  present  on  the  occasion  of  the  organization  of  the 
Disciples  at  Concord.5  He  was  over  9  years  of  age.  The  oc- 
casion was  dramatic  and  he  remembered  some  of  the  incidents. 
He  said  that  Jacob  Utley  was  there  seeking  to  hold  them  to  the 
old  order.  Smith  confessed  that  for  many  years  of  his  ministry 
he  had  been  mistaken  in  the  use  of  the  creed  and  discipline. 
Utley  inquired :  ' '  What  has  become  of  the  many  you  have  led  in 
error  and  who  have  passed  on  to  the  judgment. ' '  Said  Smith  : 
"If  they  did  as  I  have  tried  to  do  and  lived  according  to  the 
best  light  they  had,  all  is  well." 

The  first  roll  of  the  Concord  Disciples'  organization  gave 
twenty-six  heads  of  families  as  follows:  Ball,  Broadwaters, 
Brothers,  Caraway,  Cary,  Clark,  Daniels,  Delamar,  Dixon, 
Fowler,  Haveford,  Hayman,  Ives,  Leith,  McCotter,  Martin,  Mes- 
sick,  Morris,  Muse,  Potter,  Rice,  Riggs,  Slade,  Whorton,  Wilcox, 
and  Woodward. 

It  was  stated  that  the  church  "through  the  kind  providence 
of  God  and  the  assiduous  labors  of  our  estimable  brother 
Smith  multiplied  and  prospered."  However  by  1858,  Smith  by 
infirmities  of  age  had  long  ceased  to  come.  It  is  then  said :  "by 
non-attendance  and  negligence  the  church  became  and  now  is  in 


268  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

a  deplorable  condition."  Some  had  united  with  other  churches 
and  some  had  "made  shipwreck  of  the  faith"  and  had  "again 
turned  back  to  the  world  by  following  the  desire  of  the  flesh." 
So  it  was  reorganized  under  John  B.  Respess,  pastor. 

In  his  journal  of  the  "Tour"  of  Pamlico  County,  in  1854, 
George  Joyner  said  of  his  visit  to  this  church:6 

"We  arrived  and  tarried  all  night  at  bro.  Wm.  Lewis',  and 
on  Tuesday  morning  went  down  to  Concord;  but  on  account  of 
the  extreme  sickly  season,  the  audience  was  very  small,  though 
attentive.  I  addressed  them  from  2  Pet.  i  :16.  We  have  some 
good  brethren  at  Concord.  May  the  Lord  bless  them.  The 
G-ospel  is  much  needed  in  that  region.  There  is  a  vast  quantity 
of  ignorant  prejudice  and  superstitious  sectarianism  there." 

Notes 

better  from  Collection  of  Mrs.  J.  C.  Eagles,  Wilson,  N.  C.  informa- 
tion from  personal  interview  of  the  Author  with  Alonzo  J.  Holton,  who 
stated  that  his  father  Enoch  Holton  had  related  these  facts  to  him.  Chris- 
tian Friend  and  Bible  Unionist,  December,  1S54,  page  203.  4Ibid.,  page  204. 
5Related  by  Robert  Whorton  in  personal  interview  with  the  author.  Chris- 
tian  Friend    and    Bible   Unionist,    Dec,    1S54,    page   204. 


Chapter  XXIX 

OTHER  PIONEER  CHURCHES 

In  the  three  preceding  Chapters  all  of  the  available  Clerk's 
records  covering  earliest  period  of  the  development  of  the  Dis- 
ciples in  the  oldest  Churches  has  been  used.  Of  more  than 
twenty  churches  of  the  original  group  no  such  records  have  been 
discovered.  Yet  a  brief  story  of  early  times  in  some  of  these 
also  may  be  of  interest.  To  do  this,  we  have  gathered  details 
here  and  there  from  which  to  write  these  short  sketches. 

Bay  Creek 

This  church  was  originally  known  as  Bay  River.  It  appeared 
on  the  earliest  available  roll  of  Bethel  Conference  in  1829  in 
that  name.1  It  is  located  in  the  village  of  Mesic  in  the  North- 
western part  of  Pamlico  County.  Its  nearest  railway  station  is 
Cash  Corner.  Its  name  was  changed  to  Bay  Creek  in  1844,  when 
the  Disciple  group  was  organized  in  it.  This  was  probably  done 
by  Henry  Smith.  The  great  tidal  storm  of  September,  1913, 
flooded  the  lower  floors  of  dwellings  in  this  area.  It  destroyed 
the  old  clerks'  records  of  this  church. 

Bay  Creek  reported  thirty  members  in  1845.  J.  B.  Flowers 
represented  it  in  the  Conference  of  that  year.  Another  repre- 
sentative from  this  church  in  the  General  Conferences  of  the 
Forties  was  Moses  Caton. 

Beaver  Dam 

This  church  is  in  Beaufort  County  about  six  miles  east  of 
Washington.  It  was  constituted  as  a  Regular  Baptist  Church 
in  1822  by  Elders  Joseph  Biggs  and  Jeremiah  Mastin.  The  site 
was  deeded  to  the  church  by  Joseph  B.  Buxton,  December  27, 
1822. 

By  1829  a  group  of  Free  Will  Baptists  was  worshiping  there. 
So  Beaver  Dam  was  enrolled  with  the  Bethel  Conference  that 
year.  In  1845,  at  the  time  of  the  merger  with  Disciples  it  had 
forty-eight  members.  Its  Conference  representatives  in  the 
Forties  were  Thomas  Everett  (1842),  and  Silas  Ange  (1844). 

The  Disciple  group  at  this  place  was  not  distinctively  organ- 
ized until  April  30,  1856.2    Amos  J.  Battle,  assisted  by  Thomas 

269 


270  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

J.  Latham,  and  Seth  H.  Tyson,  on  that  date,  after  a  revival 
resulting  in  seventeen  additions,  organized  them. 

Bethany  (Pamlico) 

This  church  is  in  Arapahoe  in  the  southern  part  of  Pamlico 
County.  We  have  made  repeated  efforts  to  find  their  early 
clerks'  records  but  without  avail.  It  was  on  the  roll  of  the 
Bethel  Conference  and  Union  Meeting  of  Disciples  of  Christ,  of 
1845  with  a  recorded  membership  of  sixty-three.  J.  P.  Paul 
represented  them  in  the  Conference  that  year.  Their  other  con- 
ference representatives  in  the  Forties  were :  \V.  W.  Broughton, 
(1842,  '43,  '47,  and  '49)  ;  Samuel  Willis,  (1846)  ;  Ab.  Brough- 
ton, (1847);  and  Philip  Pipkin,  (1849). 

George  Joyner  visited  Bethany  in  his  "Tour"  of  Pamlico 
County.     He  said:3 

"On  Wednesday  (October  4,  1854)  we  reached  our  appoint- 
ment at  Bethany.  Here  we  had  quite  a  good  congregation, 
whom  I  addressed  upon  the  mission  of  Christ. — Luke  XIX  :10. 
There  was  an  excellent  feeling  in  the  congregation,  and  I  think 
much  good  would  result  from  a  protracted  meeting  there.  The 
brethren  seem  to  be  warm  in  the  cause,  and  I  hope  they  will  be 
rewarded  at  the  last  day." 

This  church  has  been  blessed  with  long  pastorates  of  some  of 
the  strongest  ministers  of  the  Disciples.  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh 
preached  there  for  many  years.  His  ministry  was  construc- 
tive. J.  L.  Winfield  bore  witness  to  this.  Winfield  held  them  a 
revival  in  March,  1873.    He  wrote  afterwards  :4 

"The  congregation  at  Bethany  is  better  posted  on  'our  posi- 
tion' than  any  congregation  in  Eastern  Carolina.  The  officials 
are  men  possessing  adequate  qualifications  to  discharge,  accept- 
ably, the  duties  that  devolve  upon  them.  They  all  read  the 
Watch-Tower,  and  exert  their  influence  to  make  it  a  success.  All 
this  is  traceable  to  the  manner  they  have  been  educated  by  that 
noble  veteran  of  the  cross,  Dr.  J.  T.  Walsh,  who  is  their  regular 
preacher." 

Chinquapin  Chapel 

This  church  was  in  Jones  County,  about  seven  miles  west  of 
Trenton.  It  was  originally  a  member  of  the  Neuse  Association 
of  Regular  Baptists.  It  appeared  first  on  the  Bethel  Conference 
roll  in  1845,  at  which  time  it  reported  forty-six  members.    Their 


EARLY    TIMES   IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  271 

representatives  in  the  General  Conferences  in  the  late  Forties 
were  W.  Nobles  and  J.  H.  Dillahunt.  The  Annual  State  Meet- 
ing of  Disciples  was  held  there  in  1856. 

The  original  site  of  this  church  was  in  the  forest  immediately 
in  the  rear  of  the  present  residence  of  Henry  T.  Stilley.  During 
the  War  Between  the  States  soldiers  camped  in  the  vicinity, 
using  most  of  the  timbers  of  the  old  church  in  their  camp  fires. 
After  the  War  the  walls  of  a  new  building  were  erected.  Before 
completion,  however,  a  new  Church  called  Deep  Spring  was 
organized  (October  5,  1872),  a  few  miles  north.  This  absorbed 
the  membership  of  old  Chinquapin  Chapel.  The  trustees  at 
Deep  Spring  were :  John  T.  Walsh,  David  J.  Green,  James  A. 
Stanly,  W.  M.  Hawkins,  J.  B.  Pollock,  J.  R.  Hargett,  Vincent 
Civils,  F.  F.  Green,  and  Z.  T.  Koonce. 

After  some  years  Deep  Spring  church  was  abandoned  by  rea- 
son of  deaths  and  removals  .  Most  of  the  remnant  united  with 
Haskins  Chapel.  In  recent  years  a  new  church  has  been  built  on 
the  road  from  Phillips  to  Comfort  near  the  site  of  the  old 
Chinquapin  Chapel.  It  bears  that  name  commemorative  of  the 
early  church. 

Fellows  Chapel 

This  church  was  in  the  southern  part  of  Pitt  County,  about 
five  miles  east  from  Grifton.  For  a  long  period  the  Disciples, 
Free  Will  Baptists,  and  Episcopalians  used  the  same  building. 
It  stood  in  an  elm  grove  near  Johnson's  Mills,  at  the  forks  of 
the  road,  where  one  road  turns  northwest  leading  to  the  pres- 
ent Ayden,  and  the  other  leading  northeast  to  Gardner's  Cross- 
roads. After  the  Disciples  organized,  they  called  it  Elm  Grove 
for  awhile. 

The  Bethel  Conference  held  its  Annual  Meeting  there  in  1839. 
Disciples'  State  Meetings  were  held  there  in  1852,  1859,  1866, 
and  1869.  Delegates  of  Fellows  Chapel  in  the  Conferences  of 
the  Forties  were:  G.  S.  Blount,  (1846)  ;  C.  Moore,  (1846  &  '47)  ; 
G.  Murphy,  (1847  &  '49)  ;  and  C.  Gardner  (1849). 

The  present  churches  of  Riverside,  Salem,  and  Timothy  grew 
out  of  this  mother  church. 

Mill  Creek 
This  church  is  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Johnston  County 
near  Bentonville.    It  was  in  the  Raleigh  Association  of  Regular 
Baptists  in  1811. 5     It  then  reported  ninety-three  members.     L. 


272  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Caudle  was  minister.  In  1841  it  was  on  the  roll  of  the  Bethel 
Conference  with  108  members.  The  site  of  the  present  building 
was  deeded  March  21,  1846,  by  John  Harper,  to  the  Trustees, 
James  Lee,  Sr.,  Thomas  Ward,  and  Joel  Joyner,  Jr.  It  was 
''for  and  in  consideration  of  the  advancement  of  religious  in- 
struction and  for  the  sole  use  and  benefit  of  the  aforesaid 
church  of  Christ  at  Mill  Creek." 

The  original  log  building  stood  a  short  distance  from  the 
present  structure.  The  new  building  on  the  Harper  site  was 
erected  about  1848,  the  year  when  they  entertained  the  Dis- 
ciples' State  Meeting.  Mill  Creek  representatives  in  the  State 
Meetings  of  the  Forties  were:  Joel  Joyner,  Jr.,  (1843,  '46,  '47 
and  '49)  ;  Uriah  Langston,  (1844)  ;  Aaron  Lee,  (1845  and  '48)  ; 
W.  G.  Bissell,  (1846,  '47  and  '48)  ;  W.  N.  Rose,  (1846)  ;  John 
Harper,  (1847,  '49)  ;  and  R.  Taylor,  (1848). 

The  old  Spring  at  the  base  of  the  hill  is  a  landmark,  having 
served  the  congregation  at  Mill  Creek  for  more  than  a  century. 

Oak  Grove  (Greene) 

This  church  was  in  Greene  County  about  seven  miles  south- 
east from  Farmville.  It  started  in  1830.  It  was  a  member  of 
the  Toisnot  Association  of  Regular  Baptists.  It  then  had  nine 
members.  This  Association  soon  merged  with  the  Nahunta,  as- 
suming the  name  Contentnea.  This  Contentnea  Association  had 
in  it  such  famous  old  churches  as  Toisnot  (Wilson),  founded  in 
1756;  Red  Banks  in  Pitt,  equally  as  old,  and  Tyson's  Meeting 
House,  also  in  Pitt,  near  the  present  Arthur.  On  October  24, 
1835,  the  Contentnea  Association  passed  an  anti-missionary 
resolution  in  their  yearly  meeting  at  Pleasant  Plains  Meeting 
House,  Wayne  County,  definitely  aligning  with  the  anti-mission- 
ary Baptists.  This  so  displeased  Oak  Grove  church  that  it 
dropped  out  of  the  Contentnea  Association  and  eleven  years 
later,  1846,  under  evangelistic  leadership  of  John  P.  Dunn, 
united  with  Disciples  of  Christ.  In  1863  the  meeting  place  was 
removed  a  short  distance,  and  the  name  changed  from  Oak 
Grove,  Greene  County,  to  Corinth,  Pitt  County.  In  1904  Cor- 
inth Church  was  abandoned,  the  members  uniting  for  the  most 
part  with  Antioch   (Farmville). 

In  1835,  Matt  H.  Carr,  William  Savage,  and  John  Ringold 
represented  Oak  Grove  for  the  last  time  in  the  Contentnea  As- 


James  Latham  Winfield,  1852-1897 


Joseph  Grey  Gurganus,  1850-1882 


EARLY   TIMES   IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  273 

sociation.  The  membership  was  then  fifteen.  In  1846  when  it 
came  with  the  Disciples,  it  had  only  sixteen  members.  Abram 
Baker  represented  this  church  in  the  Disciples'  Annual  Meeting 
of  1846  and  '47  and  Daniel  McArthur  in  1849.  It  entertained 
the  Disciples'  State  Meetings  in  1851,  1860,  1867,  and  1875. 

Old  Ford 

This  church  is  in  Beaufort  County  eight  miles  north  of  Wash- 
ington. It  began  in  1828,  organized  by  Jeremiah  Leggett  and 
Joseph  Biggs.6  At  first  it  was  a  member  of  the  Kehukee  As- 
sociation. The  first  pastor  was  Jeremiah  Leggett,  but  "he  hav- 
ing become  enamoured  with  the  Arminian  tenets"  the  church 
was  cast  out  of  the  Kehukee  fellowship  in  October,  1833.  Under 
the  leadership  of  Jeremiah  Leggett  and  his  son  Dr.  John  A.  Leg- 
gett, the  church  flourished.  It  had  160  members  when  it  first 
openly  affiliated  with  the  Disciples  in  1846.  Its  representatives 
in  the  Disciples'  Annual  Meetings  were:  Jesse  Swanner,  (1846 
&  '47)  ;  Dr.  John  A.  Leggett,  (1847)  ;  H.  Cherry,  (1848)  ;  Ken- 
neth Woolard,  (1848  &  '49)  ;  and  Louis  H.  Hodges,  1849. 

Old  Ford  entertained  the  Disciples'  State  Meeting  in  1888. 

Pfafftown 

This  church  is  in  Forsythe  County,  in  the  village  of  Pfafftown 
nine  miles  west  of  Winston-Salem.  As  this  is  the  mother  church 
of  Disciples  in  the  Western  counties  grouped  about  Forsythe  we 
give  it  a  different  and  more  extended  sketch.  The  only  living 
charter  member  of  this  church  is  J.  A.  Transou  of  Pfafftown. 
He  is  over  ninety-five  years  of  age.  He  gives  the  following 
story : 

A  history  of  Pfafftown  Christian  Church  will  necessarily  be  to  some 
extent  a  history  of  Virgil  A.  Wilson 's  work.  As  Wilson  and  I  were  boys 
together,  I  knew  him  well  until  his  father,  Dr.  Wilson,  moved  to  Dowell- 
town,  one  mile  from  Yadkinville.  Then  I  saw  nothing  of  him  until  during 
the  Civil  War,  when  he  preached  one  night  to  a  company  of  soldiers  en- 
camped at  Pfafftown.  They  said  he  was  a  ' '  Campbellite. ' '  His  first 
words  caught  me.  Rising  with  the  New  Testament  in  his  hand  he  said : 
' '  My  friends,  without  any  of  the  usual  preliminaries,  let  us  come  at  once 
to  a  consideration  of  the  things  written  in  this  Book."  When  Wilson 
came  again  I  told  him  I  accepted  the  position  of  the  Christian  Church, 
but  feared  that,  as  I  was  at  that  time  a  confirmed  Universalist,  they  would 
not  accept  me.  He  answered,  ' '  That 's  a  mere  matter  of  opinion ;  that 
has  nothing  to  do  with  true  faith. ' '     On  Wilson 's  third  visit  I  became  the 


274  XORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

first  member  of  Pfafftown  Christian  Church.  Soon  others  joined  and  war 
was   declared. 

The  surrounding  country  was  either  Methodist  or  Moravian,  and  every 
church  and  schoolhouse  was  locked  against  us.  Then  the  Methodists  brought 
Rev.  Peter  Doub  to  Pfafftown  to  kill  "Campbellism,"  and  for  three  days 
Rev.  Peter  thundered  upon  us  like  a  volcanic  eruption.  Wilson  countered 
by  bringing  Dr.  Chester  Bullard  from  Virginia,  who  preached  in  our 
village  and  neighborhood  more  than  a  week.  Bullard  was  a  man  of  im- 
posing appearance,  strong  in  argument,  song  and  exhortation,  and  added 
a  number  of  members  to  our  flock.  In  two  or  three  years  we  were  strong 
enough  to  build  a  meeting  house  of  our  own,  and  realizing  that  all 
truth  comes  from  God,  we  agreed  that  our  house  should  always  be  open 
to  anyone  who  wished  to  preach  there,  and  to  concerts  and  lectures  on  any 
subject  that  touched  the  interests  or  duties  of  mankind.  It  was  so  used 
while  Wilson  served  the  Church,  forty  years    (1865-1905). 

After  Wilson,  Brother  Jonas  Brinkley  preached  for  us  several  years 
and  resigned,  on  account  of  ill  health.  Then  came  Jesse  Moore,  Eastern 
Carolina  man,  a  faithful  worker,  but  for  some  reason  did  not  stay  long. 
Then  Peyton  Abbott,  of  Virginia,  preached  for  us  two  years.  He  then 
went  to  Winston  to  practice  law,  where  he  soon  died.  He  was  a  fine 
preacher.     Then  came  two  wandering  foreigners,  Butler  and  Reeves. 

Uncle  Dick  Poindexter,  he  of  the  loud  voice,  preached  often  at  Pfaff- 
town. His  gastronomic  powers  were  immense.  He  told  me  he  once  ate 
two  shad  at  a  meal.  Silas  Peacock,  a  roving  shoemaker — well  read.  Then 
came  Marshall  Kurfees,  a  fine  speaker,  who  seemed  to  know  the  New 
Testament  by  heart.  He  was  terribly  opposed  to  the  use  of  the  organ 
in  the  church.  Then  James  B.  Jones  held  a  protracted  meeting  here. 
Along  then  a  Brother  Hansborough,  a  wealthy  brother  from  Texas,  came 
to  Pfafftown  neighborhood  for  three  or  four  summers  and  held  one  or 
two  weeks '  meeting.  He  opposed  all  church  papers  and  books  and  in- 
sisted on  the  Bible  alone.  Later,  for  the  dissemination  of  his  own  ideas, 
he  published  a  paper  himself   (The  Firm  Foundation)   in  Texas — a  crank. 

William  Butler,  of  Davie  County,  held  protracted  meetings  here.  He  op- 
posed the  building  of  churches,  favored  meeting  in  the  brethren 's  homes. 
He  would  go  back  to  Apostolic  conditions,  and  declared  that  the  only 
time  our  people  were  peculiar  was  between  baptism  and  putting  off  their 
wet  clothes.  He  proposed,  if  a  dozen  families  at  Pfafftown  would  join 
him,  to  have  a  community  of  goods.     He  died  in  middle  life. 

Washington  Neely  also  preached  here  frequently.  He  married  Miss  Mary 
Atwater,  a  Western  lady,  who  came  South  after  the  war  to  teach  the 
colored  people.  She  was  well  educated,  an  excellent  woman,  and  spent 
her  life  in  teaching  while  Neely  preached.  Both  passed  away  years  ago. 
There  are  four  off-shoots  from  Pfafftown  church — Jefferson,  Muddy  Creek, 
Boyers,  and  Warners. 

Through  the  influence  of  our  work  the  wild  scenes  of  the  old-time  camp- 
meetings  have  entirely  disappeared.  People  have  learned  to  think  as  well 
as  to  feel.     Only  two  of  the  members  who  helped  to  build  our  old  church — 


EARLY    TIMES   IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  275 

Mrs.  Augusta  Fulk  and  myself — remain.  Dear  old  church,  with  its  sweet 
memories  of  the  devoted  and  liberal  hearted  men  and  women  who  built 
it  and  dedicated  it  to  all  truth! 

Piney  Grove 

This  church  was  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Sampson  County, 
near  Giddensville.  Here  the  Annual  Meeting  of  Bethel  Con- 
ference was  held  November  11-14,  1841,  when  the  designation 
Free  Will  Baptist  was  dropped  from  the  Conference  name.  It 
was  here  that  the  Disciples'  documentary  convention  records 
began.  The  Bethel  Conference  also  met  here  in  1834,  and  again 
in  1845.  The  meeting  of  1845  was  of  particular  significance 
since  it  ratified  the  actions  of  the  special  Convention  held  at 
Hookerton,  May,  1845,  looking  to  the  union  of  Free  Will  Bap- 
tists and  Disciples. 

Piney  Grove,  in  1845,  with  292  members  had  by  far  the 
largest  membership  of  any  church  in  the  Conference  group. 
John  L.  Clifton  was  the  minister.  He  was  a  strong  advocate  of 
the  Disciples'  cause  for  fifteen  years.  His  defection  from  the 
Disciples  in  1859  was  a  large  factor  in  their  loss  of  this  church. 

Representatives  of  Piney  Grove  in  the  Annual  Meetings  of 
the  Forties  were:  Stephen  K.  Bryant  (1843),  H.  D.  Lewis 
(1844),  William  Darden  (1845),  Thomas  Britt  (1847,  '48), 
Cola  Boyette  (1847)  ;  Oates  L.  Lewis  (1847,  '48). 

ROUNTREES 

This  church  is  in  Pitt  County  about  four  miles  west  of  Ayden. 
It  first  appeared  on  the  Roll  of  the  Neuse  Association  of  Regular 
Baptists  in  1832.8  It  then  had  twenty-seven  members,  and  Noah 
Tison  was  the  minister.  It  came  to  the  Disciples  a  few  years 
later  under  the  leadership  of  John  P.  Dunn. 

The  leading  pioneer  in  settling  the  community  was  Jesse 
Rountree,  father  of  Charles  Jenkins  Rountree,  and  grandfather 
of  Robert  Hart  Rountree.  Jesse  Rountree  was  a  soldier  in  the 
American  Revolution,  serving  as  a  private  in  the  company  of 
Captain  Evans  of  the  Tenth  North  Carolina  Continentals.  After 
he  settled  in  Pitt  County,  he  served  as  Sheriff  from  1818-1820. 

When  Rountrees  Church  united  with  the  Bethel  Conference 
and  Union  Meeting  of  Disciples  of  Christ  in  1845,  it  had  forty 
members.  Its  representatives  in  the  Annual  Meetings  in  the 
Forties  were:     John  P.   Dunn    (1845),   Charles  Joyner    (1846. 


276  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

and  '47),  C.  Cannon  (1849),  L.  H.  Rountree  (1849),  and  Joseph 
Dixon  (1849).  It  entertained  the  Disciples'  State  Meetings  in 
1850,  1865  and  1885. 

Tranters  Creek 

This  church  is  in  Beaufort  County  about  eight  miles  north- 
west of  Washington.  It  is  near  the  old  home  of  General  Wil- 
liam Clark  and  came  under  his  influence  in  the  early  day.  It 
was  constituted  in  1804  and  joined  the  Kehukee  Association  that 
year.  In  1811  it  had  twenty-one  members.  In  October,  1833, 
it  "was  struck  from  the  list  of  churches  composing  this  As- 
sociation," for  having  "departed  from  the  faith  on  which  they 
were  constituted."9 

In  1851  when  it  united  with  the  Disciples'  State  Meeting,  it 
had  fifty-three  members,  and  William  Eogerson  represented  it. 
The  representative  in  1852  was  Henry  Jolly. 

Jeremiah  Leggett  lived  in  this  Community.  He  was  also  a 
large  factor  in  leading  the  church  to  the  Disciples.  There  is  a 
reference  to  his  death  and  burial  in  a  letter  which  we  discov- 
ered.10 It  was  written  by  Mrs.  Edith  Pearce  Lanier  to  her 
daughter  Mrs.  Louisa  Pearce  Lanier  Clark,  wife  of  General 
Wm.  Clark,  then  in  Jackson,  Mississippi.  It  was  dated  Decem- 
ber 21,  1839.  The  use  of  ardent  spirits  at  funerals  was  a  custom 
of  the  day.  She  said:  "Poor  old  Brother  Leggett  departed  this 
life  the  15th  of  November,  Colonel  Latham  said  he  was  at  the 
enterment  and  if  he  saw  one  tear  shed  it  was  by  Joe  Leggett. 
The  old  lady  was  sick  on  her  bed ;  no  wet  eyes  but  plenty  to  wet 
the  throat ;  said  it  was  more  like  a  frolic  than  burial. ' ' 

Tuckahoe 

This  church  is  in  Jones  County  near  the  village  of  Comfort. 
It  was  enrolled  with  the  Bethel  Conference  and  Union  Meeting 
of  Disciples  of  Christ,  in  their  Annual  Meeting,  1849.  It  then 
had  twenty-eight  members.  Its  representatives  in  the  Annual 
Meetings  in  its  earliest  years  were:  M.  Jarman  (1849),  Benja- 
min Brown  (1849  and  '51),  and  Job  L.  Jarman  (1850). 

Wheat  Swamp 

This  church  is  the  oldest  of  all  the  churches  forming  the  orig- 
inal Disciple  group  in  North  Carolina,  considering  its  tributary 
Free  Will  Baptist  foundations.    We  searched  without  success  for 


EARLY    TIMES    IN    EARLY    CHURCHES  277 

its  early  clerks'  records.  It  is  in  Lenoir  County  about  nine 
miles  northwest  of  Kinston,  near  the  village  of  Institute.  It 
was  named  for  the  stream  which  is  near. 

Free  Will  Baptist  historians  stated  that  this  church  existed  in 
1752  and  was  one  of  the  sixteen  Baptist  churches  in  the  State 
then.11  Its  name  was  on  the  earliest  available  roll  (1829),  of 
the  Bethel  Conference. 

The  influence  of  Benjamin  Parrott  and  Robert  Bond  was  ef- 
fective in  leading  Wheat  Swamp  to  the  Disciples  in  the  first 
days  of  the  Movement.  In  1845  Wheat  Swamp  reported  175 
members.  It  was  a  strong  mother  Church  and  it  was  ever  well 
represented  in  the  State  Meetings.  Their  delegates  in  the  For- 
ties were:  Thos.  P.  Hartsfield  (1842),  William  White  (1843, 
Parrott  M.  Hardy  (1844),  Walter  Kennedy  (1845,  '49),  Drury 
A.  Hill  (1846,  '48,  '49),  Dr.  J.  A.  Hartsfield  (1847,  '48),  Pitt 
Hardy  (1847),  R,  F.  Hodges  (1847),  T.  W.  Hart  (1848),  H. 
Suggs  (1849). 

Wheat  Swamp  entertained  the  Bethel  Conference  in  1835, 
1840,  and  '43,  and  the  Disciples'  State  Meetings  in  1853,  '58, 
'63,  '68,  and  '84. 

Their  present  house  of  worship  has  served  since  1858.  In 
The  Disciples'  Advocate  of  June,  1858,  the  editor,  Dr.  John  T. 
Walsh  gave  the  following  account  of  the  dedication : 

On  the  4th  Lord's  Day  in  May  (May  23,  1858)  and  Saturday  before, 
the  new  house  of  worship  at  Wheat  Swamp  was  dedicated  to  the  service 
of  God.  On  Lord 's  day  the  congregation  was  large  and  attentive.  Dis- 
courses were  delivered  by  Elder  Jno.  F.  Dunn  and  the  Editor. 

The  brethren  at  Wheat  Swamp,  with  commendable  zeal,  have  erected  a 
very  neat  and  commodious  house,  which  does  great  credit  to  them  and  to 
the  neighborhood.  We  hope  that  other  churches  may  profit  by  her  example, 
and  that  many  of  our  old,  dilapidated  houses  may  give  place  to  such 
structures  as  will  be  more  in  harmony  with  the  purity,  zeal,  and  liberality 
of   Christianity. 

Fifty  years  ago  white  sand  was  used  as  a  floor  covering  in 
the  auditorium  of  the  Wheat  Swamp  Church. 

Notes 

"■"History  of  Free  Will  Baptists  in  N.  C,"  bv  Harrison  and  Bat-field, 
page  198.  ^Battle's  Report  to  Conference,  1850.  "Christian  Friend  and  Bible 
Unionist,  Dec,  1854,  page  205.  4Watch  Tower,  June,  1873,  pages  269,  260. 
5Benedict's  History  of  the  Baptists.  Vol.  II,  page  52G.  6"History  of  the 
Kohukee  Association,"  by  Joseph  Biggs,  page  286.  7North  Carolina  Chris- 
tian, Aug.,  1024,  page  4.  8"Baptist  Annual  Register,  1832."  bv  I.  M.  Allen, 
page  150.  ""Church  History  by  C.  B.  and  S.  Hassell,"  paere  746.  10In 
possession  of  Mrs.  Bessie  Clark  Thompson,  Jackson,  Miss.  ""History  of 
Free   Will    Baptists   in    N.    C,"    by   Harrison    and    Barfleld,    page   53. 


PART  IV 
MEMOIRS  OF  PAST  LEADERS 


PART  IV— MEMOIRS  OF  PAST  LEADERS 
Chapter  XXX 

GIDEON  ALLEN 

1817-1891 

Gideon  Allen  was  a  native  of  Pitt  County.  His  home  was 
near  old  Marlboro.  He  had  the  distinction  of  preaching  about 
forty  years  for  one  church,  Kountrees,  in  succession.  He  pre- 
sided at  eight  different  State  Conventions  of  Disciples  during 
the  War  Between  the  States  and  the  years  following. 

In  a  sketch  (1891),  Moses  Moye  said  of  him:1 

In  his  28th  year,  in  willing  obedience  to  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God,  he  was  led  to  accept  the  Lord  Jesus  as  his  Savior,  and  obeyed  from 
the  heart  the  form  of  doctrine  which  brought  him  into  covenant  relations 
with  God,  taking  membership  with  the  Free  Will  Baptists  worshiping  at 
Hart 's  Meeting  House,  in  Greene  County,  North  Carolina.  About  seven 
months  thereafter,  in  the  month  of  June,  1846,  he  was  regularly  ordained 
to  the  Ministry  by  this  denomination.  Owing  to  inharmonious  sentiments 
between  him  and  his  brethren,  relative  to  secret  societies,  with  one  of 
which  he  was  identified,  his  church  relations  were  severed  and  shortly 
afterwards  (1850)  he  united  with  the  Disciples  at  Oak  Grove,  in  the  same 
County.  When  this  congregation  disbanded,  he  took  membership  with  the 
Church  of  Corinth,  Pitt  County,  where  it  remained  until  his  death.  From 
credible  information,  we  feel  justified  in  saying  that  his  first  preference 
was  the  Disciples  of  Christ;  but,  to  be  with  his  wife,  who  had  previously 
joined  the  Baptists,  his  convictions  were  subjected  to  pleasant  family 
church  relations,  until  the  antagonism,  which  apparently  sought  to  cir- 
cumscribe his  religious  liberty  urged  him  to  withdraw. 

His  baptism  and  ordination  being  satisfactory  to  the  Disciples,  his 
ministerial  functions  were  endorsed  and  his  name  placed  on  the  roll  of 
ministers  at  the  next  General  Conference.  During  the  remainder  of  his  long 
and  useful  life,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  years  previous  to  his  demise, 
he  was  actively  engaged,  either  as  Pastor,  District  Evangelist,  or  State 
Evangelist.  To  the  last  position  he  was  appointed  by  the  Brotherhood 
in  1853.  In  each  of  these  relations  his  labors  were  comparatively  profit- 
able and  acceptable,  many  being  brought  to  the  Christ  under  his  ministry 
of  the  We  rd. 

Having  been  denied,  through  unpropitious  circumstances,  a  liberal  edu- 
cation in  early  life,  this  deprivation  was  always  a  source  of  deep  regret  to 
him!  but  his  earnestness  and  inherent  ability,  in  a  large  measure,  veiled 
this  deficiency  from  the  glare  of  critical  censoriousness,  and  the  congrega- 
tions under  his  charge  were  usually  edified  and  strengthened.     In  the  early 

281 


282  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

days  of  his  ministerial  life,  unremitting'  toil  was  necessary  to  "Keep  the 
wolf  from  the  door";  but  the  Lord's  day  after  the  week's  labor  on  his 
farm,  or  at  his  trade,  found  him  at  the  house  of  worship  proclaiming  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,  until  the  down-grade  of  life  admonished  him 
of  failing  vital  force. 

Like  all  the  pioneer  preachers  of  North  Carolina,  a  mere  pittance  of 
remuneration  was  meted  out  to  him.  To  patiently  serve  was  rigidly  de- 
manded, but  to  remunerate,  a  mere  matter  of  elective  choice.  "You  labor, 
and  the  Lord  will  bless  you,"  was  then — and  is  now  to  a  large  extent — 
considered  amply  sufficient  to  supply  all  temporal  and  spiritual  demands. 
That  "The  Lord  ordained  that  they  which  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of 
the  gospel, ' '  was  altogether  a  spiritual,  and  not  a  temporal  provision.  Even 
now,  the  practical  application  of  this  Scripture  by  the  multitude  within 
and  without  the  church  is  practically  ignored. 

The  religious  life  of  Elder  Allen  was  marked  by  abiding  faith  in  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  as  "The  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth, "  by  devotion  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  an  unwavering 
confidence  in  the  promise  of  God.  "It  is  written"  bounded  his  faith  and 
established  his  hope. 

Without  a  doubt  of  his  acceptance  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  his 
death  was  calmly  peaceful  and  resigned.  Like  the  Patriarchs  of  the  Bible, 
he  put  his  house  in  order,  satisfactorily  arranging  his  business  affairs,  and 
triumphantly  fell  asleep  in  Jesus,  after  a  painful  and  protracted  illness  of 
several  months. 

His  wife  and  four  of  his  seven  children  had  preceded  him  to  the  grave. 

Stanley  Ayers 
1831-1910 

Stanley  Ayers  was  a  native  of  Martin  County,  born  near  the 
village  of  Everetts.  He  was  ordained  shortly  before  the  War 
Between  the  States.  His  name  first  appeared  on  the  roll  in  1857. 
He  preached  for  Christian  Chapel,  Tranters  Creek,  Oak  Grove, 
Zions  Grove,  Macedonia,  Mannings  Schoolhouse,  Lebanon  (now 
Hassell),  and  others.  He  was  active  in  the  ministry  for  thirty- 
five  years.  During  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life,  he  was  inac- 
tive for  the  most  part  due  to  physical  weakness. 

He  frequently  served  as  Moderator  of  the  Old  Ford  Union, 
and  often  preached  at  the  gatherings  of  that  Union.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  useful  of  the  uneducated  ministers  of  the  Dis- 
ciples, serving  at  a  day  when  an  educated  ministry  was  unavail- 
able for  a  large  part  of  the  Disciples.  He  was  counted  worthy 
of  his  calling  among  his  own  religious  people.  He  was  also  held 
in  high  esteem  by  the  community  in  which  he  moved. 


memoirs  of  past  leaders  283 

Amos  Johnston  Battle 
1805-1870 

Amos  Johnston  Battle  was  the  son  of  Joel  and  Mary  P.  Battle 
and  was  born  at  Shell  Bank,  Edgecombe  County.  His  was  a 
distinguished  family  of  Eastern  Carolina.  His  brother,  William 
Horn  Battle,  was  associate  justice  of  the  State  Supreme  Court. 

He  was  first  a  Missionary  Baptist,  converted  at  Mt.  Zion, 
Georgia,  on  a  trip  to  his  Florida  plantation,  in  1828,  and  was 
baptized  by  Jesse  Mercer,  founder  of  Mercer  University.  In 
1831  he  was  ordained  to  the  Baptist  ministry.  For  several  years 
he  was  Recording  Secretary  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention, 
also  Treasurer.  On  January  7,  1830,  he  married  Miss  Margaret 
Hearne  Parker,  of  Edgecombe  County.  In  1834  he  was  pastor 
of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Nashville,  North  Carolina;  in  1838- '39 
at  Raleigh,  and  from  1840- '43  at  Wilmington,  where  he  baptized 
150  during  the  first  six  months  of  his  ministry.  He  then  trav- 
eled extensively  soliciting  funds  for  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Raleigh,  to  save  it  from  being  sold  for  its  heavy  debt.  He  was 
a  leading  trustee  of  Wake  Forest  College ;  from  his  own  personal 
funds  erecting  two  brick  buildings  there.  In  1847,  he  raised  the 
money  to  start  Chowan  College  at  Murfreesboro.  Collier  Cobb, 
of  Chapel  Hill,  said:  "He  deserves  to  rank  along  with  the 
noblest  and  best  of  the  strong  men  of  his  time." 

In  1843  he  moved  to  Wilson,  and  in  1852  he  became  a  minister 
of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  among  whom  he  was  known  especially 
for  his  aggressive  evangelizing  and  his  deep  consecration  to  their 
New  Testament  "plea."  He  was  their  State  Evangelist  for 
several  years,  and  from  the  Dismal  Swamp  to  the  Swannanoa 
sowed  the  good  seed  of  the  "Restoration  Movement."  He 
preached  the  first  sermons  to  the  Wilson  Church  in  1853,  and 
led  the  Disciples  in  their  initial  group  of  a  few  souls  when  that 
city  was  but  a  straggling  village.  He  ran  the  first  hotel  there, 
the  "Battle  House,"  which  stood  opposite  the  present  Atlantic 
Coast  Line  Railway  freight  station — where  the  plant  of  the 
Imperial  Tobacco  Company  now  stands. 

J.  J.  Harper  said  of  him:  "I  distinctly  remember  how  un- 
usually devout  he  was  at  all  times — how  spiritually-minded  and 
consecrated.  I  remember  to  have  heard  him  tell  my  father  about 
the  'season  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord'  that 


284  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

would  come  to  him  as  he  walked  along  the  road.  He  traveled 
much  in  this  way.  He  was  a  strong  preacher,  logical,  pathetic, 
and  earnest." 

Moses  Tyson  Moye  in  a  sketch  of  him  said:2 

Warm-hearted,  self-sacrificing,  zealous,  and  greatly  devoted  to  Christian- 
ity, he  endured  hardness  as  a  good  soldier,  even  walking  from  house  to 
house,  from  church  to  church,  to  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  of  Salvation. 
Patient,  hopeful,  and  forgiving,  he  meekly  received  the  indignities  which 
were  heaped  upon  him — submitting  his  cause  to  God  in  the  great  Assize 
where  the  secrets  of  all  hearts  shall  be  revealed.  In  the  month  of  March, 
A.D.,  1S69,  whilst  successfully  prosecuting  the  work  of  an  Evangelist  in  the 
mountain  region  of  North  Carolina,  he  was  attacked  with  cancer  near  the 
outward  corner  of  his  right  eye,  which  became  so  painful  that  he  was  com- 
pelled, reluctantly,  to  abandon  that  inviting  field  where  the  harvest  was 
almost  ready  for  the  sickle,  and  return  home  to  seek  medical  aid.  *  *  * 
During  the  whole  of  his  protracted  and  excruciating  sufferings,  which  ex- 
tended over  the  space  of  more  than  eighteen  months,  no  murmuring  com- 
plaints against  the  afflictive  hand  of  Providence  were  ever  known  to  have 
escaped  his  lips ;  but  with  the  most  perfect  resignation,  as  a  true  Christian, 
he  neither  murmured  nor  complained.  Only  one  sorrow  seemed  to  brood 
over  his  mind,  and  that  was  that  he  was  denied  the  happy  privilege  of  labor- 
ing in  the  Master's  Vineyard.  He  often  spoke  of  this  with  deep  regret. 
The  highest  order  of  spirituality  to  be  attained  on  earth  was  evidently 
acquired  by  him  before  his  death.  As  an  evidence  of  the  truthfulness  of 
this  assertion,  the  complete  dedication  of  himself  to  God,  found  after  his 
death,  among  his  papers,  in  his  own  handwriting,  is  hereby  inserted  in  full, 
as  follows: 

"Eternal  and  ever-blessed  God!  I  desire  to  present  myself  before  Thee 
with  deepest  humiliation  and  abasement  of  soul — sensible  how  unworthy 
such  a  worm  is  to  appear  before  Thee,  Holy  Majesty  of  Heaven,  and  to 
enter  into  covenant  transactions  with  Thee.  I  come,  acknowledging  myself 
to  have  been  a  great  offender;  smiting  on  my  breast,  and  saying  with  the 
humble  Publican,  '  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  Sinner. '  I  come,  invited  in  the 
name  of  Thy  Son,  and  wholly  trusting  in  his  perfect  righteousness — en- 
treating that,  for  his  sake,  Thou  wilt  be  merciful  to  my  unrighteousness, 
and  wilt  no  more  remember  my  sins.  Permit  me,  0  Lord,  to  bring  back 
unto  Thee  those  powers  and  faculties  which  I  have  ungratefully  and  sacri- 
legiously alienated  from  thy  service;  and  receive,  I  beseech  Thee,  thy  poor, 
revolting  creature,  who  is  now  convinced  of  Thy  right  to  him,  and  who 
desires  nothing  in  the  world  so  much  as  to  be  Thine.  It  is  with  the  utmost 
solemnity  that  I  make  this  surrender  of  myself  to  Thee.  I  avouch  the  Lord, 
this  day,  to  be  my  God;  and  I  avouch  and  declare  myself,  this  day,  to  be 
one  of  his  covenant  children  and  people. 

"Hear,  O!  Thou  God  of  Heaven,  and  record  it  in  the  book  of  Thy 
remembrance,  that  I  am  Thine,  eternally  Thine.  I  would  not  consecrate 
to  Thee  some  of  my  powers,  or  some  of  my  possessions,  or  give  to  Thee  a 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST   LEADERS  285 

certain  portion  of  my  services,  or  all  I  am  capable  of,  for  a  limited  time; 
but  I  would  be  wholly  Thine,  and  Thine  forever.  From  this  day  do  I 
solemnly  renounce  all  the  former  lords  which  have  had  dominion  over  me; 
every  sin  and  every  lust  which  have  most  unjustly  usurped  the  empire  over 
my  soul,  and,  in  Thy  name  bid  defiance  to  Hell  and  to  all  the  corruptions 
which  their  fatal  temptations  have  introduced  into  my  soul.  The  whole 
powers  of  my  nature,  all  the  faculties  of  my  mind,  and  all  the  members  of 
my  body  would  I  present  before  Thee,  this  day,  'as  a  living  sacrifice,  holy 
and  acceptable  to  God, '  which  I  know  to  be  my  most  reasonable  service. 
To  Thee  I  consecrate  not  only  my  person  and  powers,  but  all  my  worldly 
possessions;  and  earnestly  pray  Thee  also  to  give  me  strength  and  courage 
to  exert  for  Thy  glory  all  the  influence  I  may  have  over  others  in  all  the 
relations  of  life  in  which  I  stand.  Nor  do  I  consecrate  all  that  I  am  and 
all  that  I  have  only  to  Thy  service,  but  I  also  most  humbly  resign  and 
submit  to  Thy  holy  and  sovereign  will  myself  and  all  that  I  call  mine. 

' '  I  leave,  O  Lord,  to  Thy  management  and  direction  all  I  possess  and 
all  that  I  wish;  and  set  every  enjoyment  and  every  interest  before  Thee,  to 
be  disposed  of  as  Thou  pleaseth — contentedly  resolving,  in  all  that  Thou 
appointest  for  me,  my  will  unto  Thine;  and  looking  on  myself  as  nothing, 
and  on  Thou,  O  God,  as  the  Great  Eternal  All,  whose  word  ought  to  deter- 
mine every  thing,  and  whose  government  ought  to  be  the  joy  of  the  whole 
rational  Creation. 

"Receive,  O  Heavenly  Father,  the  Prodigal;  wash  me  in  the  blood  of 
Thy  dear  Son;  clothe  me  with  Thy  Perfect  righteousness,  and  sanctify  me 
throughout  by  the  power  of  Thy  Spirit.  And,  O  Lord,  when  Thou  seest  the 
agonies  of  dissolving  nature  upon  me,  remember  this  Covenant,  even  though 
I  should  be  incapable  of  recollecting  it,  and  look  with  pitying  eye  upon 
Thy  dying  child.  Put  strength  and  confidence  into  my  departing  spirit, 
and  receive  it  to  the  embrace  of  Thine  everlasting  love." 

Robert  Bond 

1800-1849 

Robert  Bond  lived  near  the  present  Grainger's  Station  in 
Lenoir  County.  He  was  the  son  of  Isban  and  Elizabeth  Bond. 
Thomas  J.  Latham  gave  the  following  sketch  of  him  :3 

In  early  life  he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  father,  and  he  was  con- 
sequently left  poor  and  unaided  to  straggle  in  the  school  of  adversity. 
When  about  eight  years  of  age,  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  truth  and 
importance  of  the  Christian  religion  and  the  necessity  of  preparing  in  time 
for  the  enjoyments  of  eternity.  But  unfortunately  for  him,  he  was  not 
encouraged  to  make  the  good  confession;  and  enter  immediately  into  the 
enjoyment  of  the  privilege  of  citizenship  in  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

He  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Moore  on  the  23rd  of  April,  1822.  Several 
children,  most  of  them  now  living,  were  the  fruits  of  this  union.  In  July, 
1823,  he  was  baptized  by  Elder  Levi  Braxton,  and  united  with  the  Baptist 


286  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

church  meeting  at  Lousan  Swamp  M.  H.  in  Lenoir  County,  North  Carolina. 
Deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  duty  to  God  and  man,  he  was  ordained  as 
a  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1828,  by  Elders  Jesse 
Heath  and  Levi  Braxton.  For  several  years  he  labored  with  great  success 
as  a  preacher  among  the  Baptists,  commonly  called  Free  Willers,  enjoying 
their  confidence  and  esteem. 

In  1839,  after  a  prayerful  and  diligent  examination  of  the  subject,  hav- 
ing become  convinced  that  the  Bible  alone,  is  the  only  safe  and  sufficient 
Rule  of  Faith  and  Discipline,  for  the  disciples  of  Christ,  or  professors  of 
Christianity,  he  boldly  advocated  the  rejection  of  all  creeds,  drawn  up  by 
uninspired  men,  as  tests  of  Christian  Union;  and  he  endeavored  to  impress 
on  all  the  followers  of  Christ  the  necessity  of  returning  to  the  belief  and 
practice  of  primitive  Christianity,  as  contained  in  the  New  Testament.  As 
might  have  been  expected,  he  was  much  traduced  and  misrepresented,  by  his 
quondam  brethren,  who  still  adhered  to  the  Articles  of  Faith  of  the  original 
Baptists — so  called. 

At  the  Annual  Conference,  held  at  Piney  Grove  M.  H.,  Sampson  County, 
North  Carolina,  in  November,  1811,  Elder  Bond  was  one  of  those  who  advo- 
cated, and  succeeded  in  substituting  the  name  of  Bethel  Conference  instead 
of  "Free  Will  Baptist  Conference."  He  continued,  as  long  as  his  health 
would  permit,  to  labor  zealously  and  efficiently  in  the  proclamation  of  the 
Ancient  Gospel.  For  some  time  before  his  death,  a  bronchial  affection, 
under  which  he  had  been  suffering  for  several  years,  prevented  his  speaking 
much  in  public.  On  the  9th  April,  1849,  he  departed  this  life,  in  the  tri- 
umphs of  faith,  leaving  a  widow  and  several  children  to  mourn  their  loss. 

Elder  Bond  was  a  kind  and  affectionate  husband  and  parent;  an  indulg- 
ent master;  an  accommodating  and  friendly  neighbor;  a  skillful  and  indus- 
trious farmer;  a  peaceful  citizen;  and  pious  Christian.  He  was  a  bold  and 
successful  proclaimer  of  the  Gospel;  a  good  doctrinal  preacher;  and  an 
excellent  exhorter.  By  his  death,  the  Bethel  Conference  sustained  the  loss 
of  one  of  her  most  ardent  and  useful  advocates  of  the  "Faith  once  deliv- 
ered to  the  Saints." 

Henry  Cleophas  Bowen 

1858-1915 

Henry  Cleophas  Bowen  was  a  preacher  and  secretary  of  North 
Carolina  Disciples  of  Christ.  He  was  born  near  Plymouth, 
North  Carolina,  and  died  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  His  parents  were 
H.  H.  Bowen,  and  Ann  Latham  Boyd  Bowen.  He  attended 
Farmville,  North  Carolina,  school  in  1878,  and  shortly  began 
preaching.  He  married  Miss  Martha  Josephine  Sutton  in  May, 
1880.  His  first  wife  having  died,  he  married  Miss  Caroline  Cox, 
December,  1882.  He  was  pastor  of  Kinston  Church  at  two  dif- 
ferent periods  for  a  total  of  six  years.     He  was  pastor  also  at 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST    LEADERS  287 

Williamston,  Winston-Salem  (4th  Street),  Belhaven  and  Wil- 
mington. Several  houses  of  worship  were  built  under  his  min- 
istry. He  was  editor  of  the  Carolina  Evangel,  and  served  as 
State  Secretary  in  1890  and  1891,  when  he  led  in  doubling  and 
trebling  the  State  Mission  gifts.  His  life  was  filled  with  an 
energetic,  tireless  work,  and  a  constructive  Christian  Ministry. 

Thomas  H.  Bowen 

1813-1878 

Thomas  H.  Bowen  was  a  native  of  Pamlico  County.  In  1879, 
Isaac  P.  Holton  said  in  a  sketch  of  him  :4 

He  made  the  good  confession  under  the  teaching  of  Elder  Henry  Smith, 
and  was  baptized  about  the  age  of  thirty  years,  and  became  a  member  of 
the  Church  of  Christ  worshiping  at  Bethany,  where  he  held  his  membership 
as   long   as   he  lived. 

Soon  after  he  became  a  member  of  the  Church,  he  gave  evidence  of 
talents  sufficient  for  a  noble  work,  and  at  the  request  of  the  Church,  he 
was  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  by  Elders  Henry  Smith  and 
John  B.  Gaylord,  at  about  the  age  of  thirty-three,  and  commenced  preach- 
ing with  considerable  success,  his  labors  being  mostly  confined  to  Craven 
and  Carteret  counties. 

After  preaching  for  several  years  he  was  left  alone,  by  the  death  of  his 
mother,  who  had  been  left  to  his  care  many  years  before  by  the  death  of 
his  father,  which  duty  he  had  faithfully  performed.  Now  being  left  en- 
tirely alone,  Bro.  Bowen  saw  it  best  to  marry,  and  was  married  December 
1-4,  1854,  to  Miss  Mary  Lewis,  daughter  of  Bro.  Isaac  Lewis,  of  Carteret 
County,  a  lady  of  fine  reputation,  and  who  is  yet  held  sacred  in  the  memory 
of  her  acquaintances. 

From  this  time  Bro.  Bowen 's  usefulness  as  a  minister  increased  until 
the  death  of  his  wife,  which  occurred  March  3,  1861.  Bro.  Bowen  by  this 
time  held  the  pastoral  care  of  as  many  as  seven  churches,  but  by  the  death 
of  his  wife,  and  the  distress  of  the  late  war,  and  having  left  to  his  care 
two  small  children,  he  had  to  confine  himself  more  closely  at  home,  preach- 
ing only  for  those  churches  that  were  near  home,  until  about  six  years 
before  his  death,  when  he  became  so  afflicted  he  had  to  decline  preaching 
entirely.  *  *  *  The  two  children  that  were  left  to  his  care  at  the  death 
of  his  wife  still  survive  him,  a  son  and  daughter,  who,  we  are  happy  to  say 
at  this  point,  have  also  made  a  good  confession  at  a  late  revival  of  religion 
in  the  Church  at  Bethany,  following  the  good  example  of  their  sainted 
father. 


288  north  carolina  disciples  of  christ 

Joshua  Lawrence  Burns 

1826-1904 

The  "one-armed  preacher,"  Joshua  Lawrence  Burns,  was 
born  near  Goldsboro,  died  near  Jamesville,  and  was  buried  in 
the  old  cemetery  at  Robersonville.  His  boyhood  was  spent  in 
Tennessee  and  Mississippi.  He  was  a  Confederate  veteran,  who 
lost  an  arm  in  a  Virginia  battle.  He  returned  to  his  native  state 
after  the  Civil  War.  He  became  a  Christian  at  Eden  Church, 
near  Snow  Hill,  in  1870,  was  baptized  by  Josephus  Latham,  and 
began  preaching  in  1871.  He  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Massey,  of 
Greenville,  South  Carolina,  November  15,  1881,  who  was  an 
"earnest  disciple  of  Christ,  and  to  him  a  faithful  helpmeet." 
For  a  number  of  years  he  was  State  Evangelist  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  for  a  brief  period  gave  like  service  to  South  Carolina. 
He  strongly  believed  in  organized  work  for  missions  among  the 
women  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  and  gave  them  valuable  en- 
couragement at  the  start.  Dr.  John  J.  Harper  said  of  him: 
"He  had  a  limited  knowledge  of  textbooks,  but  being  a  diligent 
student  he  soon  became  well  versed  in  the  Scriptures,  and  pos- 
sessed a  large  stock  of  general  information  and  was  a  very 
strong,  incisive  and  successful  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  *  *  * 
His  faults,  though  apparent,  were  few  and  small,  compared  with 
his  virtues.  His  sacrifices  for  the  Cause  he  loved  were  worthy 
of  notice ;  his  contributions  large,  compared  with  his  income ;  his 
unfaltering  devotion  beautiful." 

Henry  Dennis  Cason 

1812-1889 

Henry  Dennis  Cason  was  a  native  of  Pitt  County.  Isaac  L. 
Chestnutt  gave  the  following  sketch  of  him:5 

He  first  married  Miss  Frances  Eliza  Baldree  of  Pitt  County,  North 
Carolina,  and  to  them  were  born  twelve  children,  five  sons  and  seven  daugh- 
ters. Eight  (six  daughters  and  two  sons)  crossed  death's  river  before  him. 
His  first  wife  died  in  1857,  and  in  1872  he  married  Mrs.  Nancy  Spencer  of 
Hyde  County,  North  Carolina.  The  second  wife  died  about  one  year  before 
he  died. 

In  1834  or  '35  he  confessed  faith  in  Christ,  was  baptised  by  Jacob  Utley, 
and  connected  himself  with  the  Free  Will  Baptists. 


Joseph  Henry  Foy,   1838-1917 


Dennis  Wrighter  Davis,  1861-1912 


MEMOIRS   OF    PAST    LEADERS  289 

He  was  set  apart  to  the  ministry,  Jacob  Utley  officiating,  in  1835,  and 
remained  in  the  Free  Will  Baptist  connection,  preaching  when  and  where 
opportunity  and  circumstances  would  permit,  until  1846.  At  this  time  he 
left  the  Free  Will  Baptists  and  came  to  the  Disciples,  taking  membership 
in  the  congregation  known  at  that  time  as  Fellow 's  Chapel,  Pitt  Co.,  North 
Carolina. 

Soon  after  he  connected  himself  with  the  Disciples  he,  J.  P.  Dunn,  T.  J., 
and  Josephus  Latham  held  a  meeting  at  Fellow's  Chapel  which  resulted  in 
adding  more  than  sixty  to  the  church.  J.  P.  Dunn  and  he  held  a  meeting 
at  Eountrees  and  one  at  old  Oak  Grove,  the  immediate  result  of  which  was 
the  conversion  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty.  In  1848  he  made  a 
preaching  tour  through  the  counties  of  Wayne,  Sampson,  Johnston  and 
Cumberland. 

In  1851  he  moved  from  Hookerton,  Greene  County,  North  Carolina,  to 
Beaufort  County,  North  Carolina,  and  from  1851  to  1868  he  preached  for 
churches  in  Martin,  Beaufort,  and  Pitt  Counties.  He  organized  the  con- 
gregation at  Beaver  Dam,  Beaufort  County,  and  the  congregation  at  Tay- 
lor's Chapel,  Martin  County,  and  others. 

He  moved  to  Hyde  County,  North  Carolina,  in  1868,  and  in  '69  and 
'70  traveled  as  evangelist  in  the  employ  of  the  Old  Ford  Union  Meeting. 
He  preached  continually  from  the  time  he  connected  himself  with  the  Dis- 
ciples to  within  a  few  years  of  his  death.  As  long  as  he  was  able  to  travel 
he  was  on  time  at  his  appointments.  When  his  horse  was  needed  on  the 
farm  he  would  often  go  on  foot  fifteen  or  twenty  miles,  carrying  valise  and 
books,  to  meet  his  appointment.  Much  of  his  labor  was  gratuitous,  but  he 
preached  when  and  wherever  he  could  get  the  ears  of  the  people.  He  did 
not  fold  his  hands  and  do  nothing  because  a  splendid  salary  was  not  offered. 
Souls  were  too  precious  for  him  to  throw  away  his  time. 

He  was  a  blacksmith,  buggy  maker  and  farmer,  and  by  these  occupations 
he  made  a  support  for  himself  and  family,  and  preached  the  gospel  to 
many  who  would  not  otherwise  have  received  it.  It  is  thought  that  he  bap- 
tized fifteen  hundred  persons  during  his  ministry.  His  educational  advan- 
tages were  very  limited;  still  he  was  very  successful  in  evangelistic  work. 
The  educated  and  uneducated  were  reached  by  his  plain,  practical,  forcible, 
logical  and  pathetic  appeals.  He  possessed  a  power  in  prayer  that  few  men 
are  blessed  with.  Many  who  had  resisted  the  strongest  sermons  were 
reached  by  his  prayers  and  brought  to  the  cross.  Had  he  been  educated 
and  trained  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  when  he  was  young  he  would  have 
made  a  preacher  of  more  than  average  powers.  He  possessed  good  native 
ability;  and  understood  well  the  facts  of  the  Christian  system  as  taught 
by  the  Disciples.  His  preaching  was  largely  hortatory,  and  in  preaching 
he  spoke  loud  and  rapidly.  He  was  the  first  to  turn  Bro.  J.  J.  Harper's 
mind  toward  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  After  he  had  baptised  Bro. 
Harper  he  said  to  him:  "Now  put  that  noble  mind  to  work;  go  to  preach- 
ing. ' ' 

He  was  of  medium  height,  possessed  of  a  stout,  strong  and  well-knit 
frame.  His  sympathies  were  very  strong,  and  he  was  ever  ready  to  help 
the  suffering  and  needv  to  the  extent  of  his  abilitv.     As  he  neared  the  river 


290  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

his  faith  in  Christ  grew  stronger.  The  writer  was  with  him  in  his  death 
sickness,  and  he  talked  freely  of  those  among  whom  he  had  gone  preaching 
the  gospel  and  of  those  true  yoke-fellows  who  had  been  his  companions  in 
travel.  He  talked  of  the  Christian  's  home  with  the  manifest  anxiety  of  one 
who  had  long  been  away  from  home  and  ready  to  return. 


Louisa  Pearce  Lanier  Clark 

1798-1841 

Louisa  Pearce  Lanier  Clark  was  the  wife  of  General  William 
Clark,  and  a  native  of  Pitt  County.  She  removed  with  the  fam- 
ily to  Jackson,  Mississippi,  in  1835.  The  following  is  from  a 
memoir  of  her  in  the  Millennial  Harbinger  of  December,  1841 : 

Truly  a  most  excellent  one  of  the  earth  has  fallen.  Humanity  has  lost 
a  friend,  the  church  of  Christ  a  mother  in  Israel,  and  language  fails  when 
we  would  speak  of  the  loss  sustained  by  the  family  of  which  she  was  a 
member.  Their  loss,  however,  is  her  great  gain ;  for  ' '  blessed  are  the  dead 
who  die  in  the  Lord!  they  cease  from  their  labor,  and  their  works  do 
follow  them!  " 

Mrs.  Clark  was  a  philanthropist  by  nature,  and  the  cold  policy  of  the 
world  never  checked  the  impulse  of  her  generous  heart,  or  held  back  her 
hand  from  extending  relief  when  the  same  was  within  her  power.  It  was 
sufficient  for  her  to  know  that  humanity  suffered  and  that  she  could  relieve, 
to  ensure  comfort  to  the  afflicted.  Long,  long  will  she  be  remembered  by 
many,  very  many,  with  the  liveliest  emotions  of  gratitude,  who  have  felt 
the  influence  of  her  kindness  and  benevolence. 

Possessing  naturally  a  strong,  active,  and  inquiring  mind,  that  thought 
for  itself  and  acted  on  its  own  conclusions,  she  early  in  life  made  herself 
acquainted  with  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel;  and,  breaking  loose  from  the 
prejudice  of  education  and  the  trammels  of  the  scholastic  creeds  of  the 
day,  she  embraced  them  in  their  simplicity  and  purity. — When,  therefore, 
the  principles  of  the  reformation,  as  promulgated  by  Mr.  Campbell,  were 
first  presented  to  her  mind,  finding  them  in  exact  accordance  with  the  con- 
clusions of  her  own  judgment,  she  readily  united  in  the  work  of  the  ref- 
ormation. She  with  her  husband,  were  the  first  that  espoused  that  cause  in 
North  Carolina,  and  continued  a  zealous,  active,  and  efficient  Disciple  up 
to  the  hour  of  her  departure.  She  lived  to  see  four  of  her  children  become 
obedient  to  the  gospel,  and  numerous  friends  and  acquaintances  join  in  the 
glorious  work,  influenced  by  her  forcible  arguments  and  Christian  deport- 
ment. Her  pious  and  devoted  husband,  who  was  first  a  preacher  in  the 
Regular  Baptist  church,  and  afterwards  a  teacher  of  the  reformation, 
always  found  in  his  beloved  companion  one  that  could  counsel,  aid  and 
comfort  him. 

Notes 

JMinutes,    1891.      2Ibid.,    1870.      8Ibid..    1851.     *Ibid.f    1879.      "Ibid..    1890. 


Chapter  XXXI 

MEMOIRS   OF  PAST  LEADERS    (CONTINUED) 

General  William  Clark 

1790-1859 

General  William  Clark  was  the  first  North  Carolina  reader  of 
the  Millennial  Harbinger.  He  and  his  wife,  Louisa  Pearce 
Clark,  were  the  first  fruits  of  the  "Restoration  Movement"  in 
North  Carolina.  He  was  the  son  of  William  Clark  and  Mary 
Ann  Woodard  Clark.  The  first  forty-five  years  of  his  life  (1790- 
1835)  were  spent  in  Pitt  County,  at  Pactolus  and  Greenville. 
His  "Tavern  Home"  in  Greenville  stood  on  Second  Street,  be- 
tween Cotanch  and  Reade.  In  this  home  on  February  14,  1834, 
he  received  Thomas  Campbell  on  his  tour  of  Eastern  North  Caro- 
lina. He  was  also  "long  a  devoted  friend"  of  Alexander  Camp- 
bell. He  married  Jane  Roe  Fuller,  July  26,  1810.  His  first  wife 
having  died,  he  married  Louisa  Pearce  Lanier,  September  29, 
1814.  When  Thomas  Campbell  came,  "she  readily  united  in 
the  work  of  the  reformation."  She  died  in  1841.  General  Clark 
later  married  Miss  Patton,  of  Hopkinsville,  Kentucky.  The 
General  was  a  consistent  prohibitionist  and  never  allowed  any 
strong  drink  in  his  home,  but  this  Kentucky  wife  smuggled  in 
some  brandy  occasionally  for  seasoning  of  her  wonderful  dishes. 
A  large  portrait  of  the  General  hung  in  his  Jackson,  Mississippi, 
home  during  the  War  Between  the  States.  When  the  Federal 
soldiers  occupied  the  city,  one  of  them  ran  his  sword  through  the 
painting  against  the  tearful  and  spirited  protests  of  the  widow. 
General  Clark  was  first  a  Primitive  Baptist  preacher  belong- 
ing to  the  Kehukee  Association.  He  was  Clerk  of  this  Associa- 
tion and  played  a  historic  part  in  the  memorable  session  at 
Kehukee  in  1827, r  when  the  missionary  movement  forced  an 
issue,  resulting  three  years  later  in  the  formation  of  the  Baptist 
State  Convention  at  Greenville,  and  the  progressive  isolation  of 
Kehukee  as  an  anti-missionary  group.  The  General,  finding  a 
better  contact  for  his  more  liberal  mind  in  the  Neuse  Associa- 
tion, united  with  it.     His  deep  and  earnest  study  of  the  New 

291 


292  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Testament,  however,  led  to  his  independent  and  decisive  rejec- 
tion of  the  creeds  of  the  day.  For  preaching  this  conviction  the 
Neuse  Association  excluded  him  from  the  Baptist  Church  at 
Fort  Barnwell,  October  21,  1833,  together  with  John  P.  Dunn 
and  Abraham  Congleton,  two  others  of  a  like  militant  loyalty  to 
the  all-sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures  as  the  Christian's  creed. 

After  General  Clark  went  to  Jackson,  Mississippi,  in  1835,  he 
owned  seventeen  acres  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  He  gave  two 
of  these  acres  for  the  Christian  church  lot  and,  it  is  said,  built 
up  the  most  prominent  and  flourishing  church  of  the  city  before 
the  War  Between  the  States.  He  was  Treasurer  of  the  State. 
In  North  Carolina  he  was  an  active  "old  line  Whig,"  a  follower 
of  Henry  Clay,  and  made  many  a  stump  speech  against  secession. 
He  preached  to  his  numerous  slaves  and  baptized  them.  These 
blacks  in  the  topsy-turvy  days  of  Reconstruction  repudiated 
"Ole  Massa's"  baptism,  and  were  rebaptized  by  a  negro.  It  is 
said  that  his  six  daughters  "were  all  beautiful,  brilliant,  tal- 
ented women,  shone  as  stars  in  society,  and  lived  up  to  the  best 
of  the  old  traditions."  His  oldest  great-granddaughter,  Mrs. 
James  Craig  Cowan,  was  in  Germany  when  the  World  War 
broke  out.  She  wrote  a  book  describing  conditions  there  at  that 
period. 

General  Clark's  second  wife,  Miss  Louisa  Pearce  Lanier,  was 
a  daughter  of  Robert  F.  Lanier,  wealthy  planter  of  Pitt  County. 

Having  extensive  lands  and  much  money  Robert  F.  Lanier 
gave  to  each  of  his  children  as  they  married,  a  plantation  and 
built  on  it  a  home  for  them.2  Gen.  Clark  who  was  then  a  young 
man,  asked  that  he  might  plan  the  one  that  he  was  going  to 
build  for  himself  and  wife.  The  result  was  a  large,  very  impos- 
ing house  situated  about  three  miles  from  Pactolus,  Pitt  County, 
on  the  present  Williamston  Road. 

It  was  a  perfect  type  of  pure  Colonial  architecture,  sur- 
rounded by  a  large  grove  of  elms  and  cedars.  This  was  the 
handsomest  home  in  that  section  and  was  called  by  the  neighbors 
"The  Palace";  others  spoke  of  it  as  the  "White  House."  This 
building  was  four  stories  high,  the  first  being  known  as  the  base- 
ment although  it  was  all  above  ground.  This  was  built  of  brick 
and  had  brick  floors.  It  contained  three  rooms.  One  of  them 
was  large  and  had  an  extremely  large  fireplace  in  it. 


MEMOIRS   OF    PAST    LEADERS  293 

The  other  three  stories  were  built  of  heart  timber,  every  room 
having  brick  walls  between  the  partitions.  The  front  steps  were 
very  high  and  led  up  to  the  porch  that  opened  into  the  main 
hall.  This  porch  ran  the  full  length  of  the  front  of  the  house 
and  on  it  stood  stately  Corinthian  columns.  Over  the  paneled 
front  door  and  windows  were  fan-shaped,  leaded  glass  trim- 
mings. All  of  the  hardware  was  hand-wrought  and  very  mas- 
sive. The  hinges  and  locks  were  extremely  large  and  the  front 
door  key  was  about  nine  inches  long. 

The  front  door  opened  into  a  paneled  front  hall  extending 
the  full  width  of  the  house.  At  each  end  of  the  hall  a  door  led 
to  a  side  porch ;  one  facing  the  stables,  carriage  house,  and  farm 
lands;  the  other  facing  the  cedar  avenue  through  which  ran  a 
drive  that  was  always  used  when  horseback  riders  and  hunting 
parties  left  the  house.  The  hall  opened  into  the  parlor,  dining 
room  and  other  rooms.  At  the  left  end  of  this  was  a  colonial 
stair.  Under  it  was  a  secret  trap-door  leading  to  the  "base- 
ment." 

The  third  story  contained  six  bedrooms.  The  fourth  floor  was 
General  Clark's  own.  In  it  he  had  a  large  study  and  library. 
From  the  rear  of  the  house  could  be  seen  the  slave  quarters. 
One  of  these  is  yet  standing. 

The  Clark  home  was  burned  in  1901,  and  only  the  foundation 
remains.  Thus  passed  one  of  North  Carolina's  old  historic 
homes  rich  in  the  traditions  of  the  Old  South. 

When  the  American  Christian  Missionary  Society  was  organ- 
ized in  1849,  Gen  Clark  was  appointed  a  Vice-President.  He 
was  visited  in  his  Mississippi  home  by  Alexander  Campbell, 
Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  and  other  leading  pioneers.  Thomas  W. 
Caskey,  Mississippi  pioneer  of  the  Disciples  related  an  amusing 
anecdote  of  the  General.    He  said  :3 

I  met,  at  this  place,  Brandon,  Mississippi,  the  venerated  old  Brother 
Gen.  William  Clark,  of  Jackson,  Mississippi.  We  held  a  meeting  of  ten 
days,  and  had,  I  think,  twenty-seven  additions.  One  incident  occurred  at 
this  meeting  bordering  on  the  ludicrous.  An  old  infirm  man  from  North 
Carolina,  seventy  years  old,  made  the  good  confession,  after  spending 
twenty  years  of  his  life  trying  to  get  religion.  He  was  about  six  feet  six 
inches  in  height,  tall  and  slender  as  a  bean-pole;  looked  like  he  had 
stretched  himself  up  all  his  life,  after  persimmons.  Brother  Clark  was  five 
feet  eight  inches;   corpulent,  old  and  ci-ipplod  with  rheumatism.     The  long 


294  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

old  man  seemed  to  have  the  idea  in  his  head  that  the  validity  of  baptism, 
to  him  at  least,  depended  on  the  administrator  having  come  from  North 
Carolina.  Brother  Clark  being  from  that  State,  he  must  baptize  him. 
Nothing  but  an  old-fashioned  North  Carolina  baptism — administrator,  actor, 
and  subject — would  satisfy  his  conscience.  In  vain  we  pointed  out  the 
difficulties  in  the  watery  pathway.  He  seemed  determined  to  travel  with 
Brother  Clark,  and  no  one  else.  We  appointed  the  hour  of  ten  on  Lord's 
day  morning  and  would  go  from  the  pool  to  church.  The  crowd  was  solemn 
as  death,  as  these  two  old  men  with  tottering  forms  and  bleaching  locks, 
slowly  descended  into  the  yielding  bosom  of  the  water.  I  was  to  preach  at 
eleven  and  was  dressed  for  church — boots  black  and  shiny,  my  wedding 
jeans  pants  well  dusted  and  well  strapped  clown  too  with  leather  straps  as 
wide  as  my  hand  and  sewed  to  the  pants  as  was  the  fashion.  I  was  in  a 
fix.  No  other  boots  or  pants  to  put  on  in  the  event  Brother  Clark  failed, 
as  I  was  almost  certain  he  would.  And  fail  he  did;  once,  twice,  and  a  third 
time.  By  this  time  they  were  so  exhausted  that  neither  of  them  could  have 
got  out  of  the  pool  without  strong  help.  Brother  Clark,  poor  old  man, 
looked  up  pitifully  at  me,  and  said,  "Brother  Caskey,  you  will  have  to  bap- 
tize him;   I  can't."     Down  I  stepped  into  the  pool. 

I  being  nearly  as  long  for  this  world  as  he,  had  no  difficulty  in  baptizing 
him.  I  never  learned  whether  he  considered  it  valid  or  not,  as  it  was  not 
administered  by  a  North  Carolinian.  But  now  I  was  in  a  fix — wet  at  least 
up  to  the  skirts  of  my  coat,  if  not  higher;  no  other  boots  or  shoes;  no  other 
coat  or  pants — for  I  generally  depended  on  the  brethren  furnishing  me 
pants  to  baptize  in,  and  I  can  safely  say  that,  while  they  did  very  well  for 
that,  they  would  not  have  done  well  for  anything  else,  without  putting 
sugar  in  my  boots  to  draw  the  legs  downward.  Preaching  hour  at  hand, 
and  I  had  to  preach;  marched  up  from  the  fount  to  church,  just  as  I  came 
out  of  the  water — boots  not  shining  to  do  much  good,  and  I  much  disposed 
to  utter  clerical  malediction  against  all  sectional  foolery  in  religion.  I 
preached  though  as  best  I  could  in  this  somewhat  sorry  plight,  and  presume, 
from  the  effect,  that  I  preached  a  warm  discourse. 


John  James  Coltrain 
1817-1881 

John  James  Coltrain  was  a  native  of  Martin  County.  His 
home  was  several  miles  from  Jamesville  in  the  Maple  Grove 
Community.  He  was  baptized  by  H.  D.  Cason,  November  3, 
1853.  He  immediately  established  an  altar  of  prayer  in  his 
family,  and  soon  began  to  preach  the  gospel.  He  was  ordained 
to  the  ministry  November  12,  1856.  At  his  ordination,  Seth  H. 
Tyson,  and  H.  D.  Cason  officiated.  Henry  Smith  Gurganus,  who 
preached  his  funeral  sermon,  said:4  "Brother  Coltrain  was  not 
in  the  popular  sense  an  educated  man,  but  he  was  a  man  of  great 


MEMOIRS   OF    PAST    LEADERS  295 

piety  and  earnestness.  He  left  a  heart-stricken  wife  and  four 
children  to  mourn  his  demise.  His  preaching  brethren  feel  the 
loss  of  a  faithful  and  kind  brother,  and  the  Church  one  of  its 
most  useful  members." 

Isaac  Lamar  Chestnutt 
1861-1907 

/     The  following  sketch  of  Isaac  Lamar  Chestnutt  was  given  by 
'  S.  W.  Sumrell  in  1907  :5 

He  was  born  and  reared  near  Grifton  in  Contentnea  Neck  Township, 
Lenoir  County.  He  became  a  member  of  the  Union  Baptist  Church  about 
'69  or  70,  and  was  baptised  I  think  by  Elder  B.  W.  Nash.  He  united 
with  the  Disciples  about  1872  and  entered  the  ministry  at  once,  the  same 
fall  he  began  going  to  school  to  J.  H.  Foy,  who  was  then  teaching  in  Kin- 
ston.  He  remained  in  school  under  Bro.  Foy  about  four  years,  then  taught 
and  preached  the  greater  part  of  Ms  time.  Bro.  Chestnutt  visited  a  good 
many  of  the  congregations  in  the  State  and  was  loved  wherever  he  was 
known. 

He  was  married  to  Miss  Clara  Dixon,  of  near  Hookerton,  in  1885.  Not 
a  great  while  after  his  marriage  he  bought  a  farm  near  Hookerton,  and 
farmed  and  preached  until  he  received  a  call  to  preach  at  Newbern  church, 
at  which  place  he  did  a  good  work.  A  few  years  ago  he  was  called  to 
Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  taking  charge  of  some  churches  in  that  commu- 
nity, where  he  did  successful  work  up  to  the  time  his  health  failed,  about 
two  years  ago. 

He  was  one  of  our  best  men  and  one  of  our  finest  preachers.  He  had  a 
lovely  disposition,  and  was  loved  by  those  who  knew  him.  He  was  a  kind 
father,  and  a  good  and  true  husband.  ~1 

Harvey  Swain  Davenport 
1837-1921 

Harvey  Swain  Davenport  was  born  near  Dardens,  Martin 
County,  and  died  at  his  home  in  Hyde  County.  He  was  left  an 
orphan  at  six  years  of  age.  In  early  life  he  was  an  infidel.  On 
March  8,  1860,  he  married  Amelia  Annie  Spruill.  He  volun- 
teered for  War  in  1861,  in  Company  G,  First  North  Carolina 
State  troops,  and  was  attached  to  Stonewall  Jackson's  command. 
He  was  wounded  at  Chancellorsville,  captured  at  Gettysburg, 
and  imprisoned  at.  Fort  Delaware.  He  was  baptized  by  Joe 
Grey  Gurganus,  October,  1881.  His  first  wife  having  died,  his 
second  wife  was  Miss  Katie  Hodges.     He  pioneered  in  the  min- 


296  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

istry  in  the  counties  of  Martin,  Washington,  Beaufort,  Hyde, 
and  Craven,  establishing  many  new  churches.  He  was  pensioned 
in  his  last  years  by  churches  of  Hyde  District.  He  lived  to  be 
nearly  eighty-four  years  old,  and  preached  the  pure  and  simple 
gospel  for  forty  years.  He  was  noted  for  his  forbearing  spirit. 
It  is  related  that  one  night  while  he  was  evangelizing  in  a  back- 
woods schoolhouse  in  Hyde  County,  a  ruffian  threw  a  dog  upon 
him  from  a  window  while  he  knelt  in  prayer.  The  preacher  did 
not  rebuke  the  miscreant  but  sought  him  after  the  services  say- 
ing he  would  go  and  spend  the  night  with  him  to  partake  of  his 
hospitality.  The  preacher  later  had  the  joy  of  baptizing  him 
into  Christ. 

Dennis  Wrighter  Davis 
1861-1912 

For  a  quarter  of  a  century  Dennis  Wrighter  Davis  was  one 
of  the  ablest  preachers  of  Eastern  North  Carolina  Disciples  of 
Christ.  He  was  born  near  Jamesville,  and  died  at  Washington. 
He  was  baptized  by  Joseph  Grey  Gurganus  in  1882.  The  same 
year  he  entered  a  school  at  Catherine  Lake  conducted  by  Henry 
Cleophas  Bowen.  Later  he  attended  Isaac  L.  Chestnutt's  school 
at  Farmville.  For  further  training  he  went  to  the  College  of 
the  Bible,  Lexington,  Kentucky.  He  married  Miss  Mary  Cotton 
Johnson.  He  was  survived  by  his  wife  and  nine  children  and  by 
four  brothers  and  one  sister.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
the  Roanoke  District  Evangelist. 

Thousands  were  baptized  by  this  evangelist  in  Eastern  North 
Carolina.  His  pastoral  work  especially  in  such  fields  as  Green- 
ville, Wilson,  and  Washington,  had  profound  and  far-reaching 
effects  in  building  up  the  churches.  His  friends  made  by  strong 
ministries  for  Christ  were  legion.  They  joined  in  marking  his 
Martin  County  grave  with  a  beautiful  memorial  stone  in  1923. 

The  lower  inscription  on  this  stone  is  as  follows : 

An  advocate  of  "The  Plea"  building  strong  Churches  of 
Christ  on  his  native  soil;  an  evangelist  for  Christ  in  the  "Old 
North  State/'  serving  effectually  with  self-sacrifice;  a  devout 
man  of  vision  and  noble  initiative  being  a  founder  of  the  North 
Carolina  Christian  Missioviary  Convention  and  of  Atlantic  Chris- 
tian College. 

Erected  to  His  Memory  by  Grateful  Fellow  Disciples. 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST    LEADERS  297 

Samuel  L.  Davis 

1820-1881 

Samuel  L.  Davis  was  a  native  of  Hyde  County.  John  R.  Win- 
field  gave  the  following  sketch  of  him:6 

In  his  death  the  Disciples  lose  a  plain,  yet  simple  and  faithful  servant 
of  the  church.  He  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  an  Evangelist  in  1855.  He 
wielded  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  in  his 
public  and  private  ministrations  he  was  a  Christian  of  the  highest  type. 
He  often  exposed  himself  to  rain  and  snow,  travelling  and  preaching  the 
word.  Bro.  Davis  was  an  uneducated  man,  but  we  have  few  men  better 
educated  in  the  Bible,  and  few  more  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the  pure  gos- 
pel. The  churches  in  Hyde  county  were  nurtured  and  guarded  by  him. 
Their  present  prosperity  is  owing  to  the  good  seed  he  sowed.  He  loved  all 
the  congregations  over  which  he  had  the  oversight,  and  spared  no  pains  to 
build  them  up  in  the  most  holy  faith.  He  was  a  kind  husband,  an  affection- 
ate father  and  a  sympathizing  friend.  He  bore  his  suffering  with  great 
fortitude  and  calmly,  peacefully  and  heroically  yielded  up  his  spirit  and 
fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  May  our  lives  be  patterned  after  his  and  may  we 
die  with  the  same  resignation,  leaving  behind  an  untainted  record  and  the 
highest  eulogy — "he  went  about  doing  good." 


John  H.  Dillahunt 

The  years  of  the  birth  and  death  of  this  minister  we  do  not 
know  precisely.  He  lived  mainly  within  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Josephus  Latham  gave  the  following  sketch 
of  him:7 

He  was  born  near  Trenton,  Jones  County,  North  Carolina,  and  was  raised 
and  educated  near  the  place  of  his  nativity.  His  parents  being  in  fair  cir- 
cumstances, they  were  enabled  to  give  their  son  an  opportunity  of  spending 
a  good  deal  of  time  at  school,  and  he  succeeded  in  gaining  a  fair  English 
education ;  and  while  growing  up  the  great  principles  of  morality  were  early 
imbibed  and  sweetly  cherished  by  him,  and  long  years  before  his  death  he 
was  baptized  and  united  with  the  church  of  Christ  at  ' '  Chinquapin  Chapel ' ' 
and  became  a  very  exemplary  member  thereof;  and  having  enjoyed  the 
sweets  of  the  gospel  he  desired  others  to  do  so,  and  commenced  preaching 
a  while  after  he  made  the  "good  confession,"  which  fact  combined  with 
his  purity  of  life,  would  have  given  him  a  powerful  influence  had  it  not 
been  for  his  extreme  diffidence.  He  never  seemed  able  to  appreciate  his 
real  ability.  He  seemed  to  esteem  others  better  than  himself.  He  was 
exceedingly  modest  and  unassuming,  and  decidedly  one  of  the  most  unselfish 
men  with  whom  I  was  ever  acquainted.  He  was  zealously  devoted  to  the 
sublime  principles  of  the  current  reformation. 


298  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

His  devotion  to  pure  Christianity  was  shown  not  only  in  words  but  in  acts. 
Unlike  many  professed  disciples  he  was  a  zealous  patron  of  our  schools  and 
periodicals. 

Brother  Dillahunt  had  fair  property,  which  enabled  him  to  support  his 
large  family.  When  but  a  young  man  he  married  Miss  McDaniels.  He  was 
some  years  sheriff  of  Jones  and  doubtless  filled  the  office  with  much  ability; 
but  the  office  did  not  suit  him  and  he  gave  it  up.  Most  of  his  life  was 
spent  on  a  farm.  Although  he  did  merchandise  a  while,  yet  he  returned  to 
a  farm  as  more  congenial  with  his  feelings. 

Such  is  but  a  small  sketch  of  the  noble  Dillahunt,  who  filled  up  the  meas- 
ure of  a  good  man,  being  a  devoted  husband,  affectionate  father,  good 
neighbor,  humane  master,  and  last,  but  not  least,  a  pure  and  unselfish 
Christian.  This  being  so,  we  cannot  help  believing  that  his  death  is  his 
gain,  for  by  it  he  was  saved  from  the  melancholy  scenes  of  the  war  just 
passed.  "lis  true  the  clouds  were  gathering  thickly  over  our  political  hori- 
zon and  the  jarring  elements  seemed  ready  to  choke  our  country  from  cen- 
tre to  circumference,  yet,  before  these  clouds  broke  with  fury  upon  us,  he 
calmly  slept  in  his  tomb  thereby  escaping  the  "evil  to  come";  for  since 
then  thousands  and  thousands  have  met  in  deadly  combat;  the  noble  young 
husband  was  torn  from  his  beloved  wife  and  children;  and  thousands  have 
been  mangled  on  the  battlefields;  and  the  blood  of  many  a  loved  one  has 
drenched  the  soil  of  the  "Sunny  South";  and  his  own  son  met  the  fate 
of  thousands  of  brave  Southrons;  even  the  clash  of  musketry  was  heard  at 
or  near  the  church  where  he  used  to  worship ;  but  he  heard  it  not. 

Notes 

^'History  of  the  Kehukee  Baptist  Association,"  by  Joseph  Biggs,  pages 
238-241.  *The  Author  is  indebted  to  Mrs.  J.  C.  Eagles,  Wilson,  N.  C,  for 
the  larger  part  of  this  description  of  Gen  Clark's  home.  3"Caskey's  Book." 
by  Thomas  W.  Caskey,  pages  304-307.  4Minutes,  1SS2.  6Carolina  Evangel, 
Aug.   8,   1907.     "Minutes,   18S2.     'Ibid.,   1865,. 


n 


Chapter  XXXII 

MEMOIRS  OF  PAST  LEADERS    (CONTINUED) 

John  Holliday  Dixon 
1795-1843 


John  Holliday  Dixon  was  a  native  of  Greene  County.  His 
home  was  about  a  mile  south  of  Farmville.  In  closing  the  min- 
utes of  the  Bethel  Conference  for  1843,  Thomas  J.  Latham 
added : 

In  consequence  of  indisposition  Elder  John  H.  Dixon  failed  to  prepare  a 
Circular  Letter  to  be  attached  to  these  minutes.  Within  a  day  or  two  after 
the  rise  of  the  Bethel  Conference  (1843),  he  closed  his  mortal  career,  after 
a  severe  and  protracted  illness  of  many  weeks.  By  the  death  of  this  ami- 
able and  pious  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  our  Conference  has  been  deprived  of 
one  of  its  brightest  ornaments;  society,  of  one  of  its  worthiest  citizens; 
the  churches  over  which  he  presided,  of  an  eloquent  and  zealous  Bishop ; 
his  widow  and  children,  of  an  affectionate  and  tender  husband  and  parent. 
Having  lived  the  life  of  the  Christian,  he  died  the  death  of  the  righteous — 
Our  loss  is  his  gain. 

Mrs.  Penelope  Lyon  Dixon 

1842-1924 

Mrs.  Penelope  Lyon  Dixon  was  the  wife  of  James  S.  Dixon. 
She  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  Disciple  press  of  the 
State  under  the  pen  name  "Neppie  L.  Dixon."  The  following 
is  from  a  memoir  which  appeared  in  the  North  Carolina  Chris- 
tian, January,  1925 : 

Mrs.  Dixon  was  born  and  reared  in  Edgecombe  County  where  she  was 
held  in  love  and  esteem  by  all  who  knew  her.  Interment  was  in  Littleton 
Cemetery.     The  floral  offerings  were  numerous  and  beautiful. 

Mrs.  Dixon  is  survived  by  two  children,  S.  J.  Dixon  of  Weldon,  and  Mrs. 
W.  G.  Coppersmith,  of  Littleton.  Seven  grandchildren  and  two  great-grand- 
children also   survive  her. 

Early  in  life  she  became  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  in  years 
when  she  was  young  and  strong  she  went  about  doing  good.  In  the  years 
of  her  affliction  and  infirmity  she  was  often  found  with  her  open  Bible  com- 
muning with  her  Lord  and  Saviour  whom  she  served  long  and  faithfully 

299 


300  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

'  Mrs.  Sallie  R.  Dixon} 

1838-1908 

The  following  is  from  a  memoir  of  Mrs.  Sallie  R.  Dixon  which 
appeared  in  the  Carolina  Evangel,  July  30,  1908 : 

She  was  the  only  daughter  of  Robert  and  Hannah  Rasberry,  of  Oklolona, 
Mississippi.  While  at  school  at  Aberdeen,  Mississippi,  she  first  heard  the 
doctrine  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  and  was  converted  under  the  preaching 
of  Bro.  J.  A.  McClean,  when  sixteen  years  old,  and  until  her  death  remained 
a  faithful  member  of  that  church. 

On  December  11,  1860,  she  was  happily  married  to  Dr.  F.  W.  Dixon,  and 
came  to  North  Carolina  to  make  her  future  home.  Nine  children  blessed 
this  union — four  of  whom,  with  the  beloved  husband,  had  preceded  her  to 
the  Mansions  above. 

She  was  the  mother  of  Christian  Woman's  Board  of  Missions  work  in 
North  Carolina.  She  was  president  for  several  years,  until  her  failing 
health  compelled  her  to  resign.  But  until  the  last,  she  loved  the  work  and 
gloried  in  its  growth.  It  will  be  of  interest  to  the  loved  workers  of  the 
Christian  Woman's  Board  of  Missions  throughout  the  State  to  know  that 
during  the  last  year  of  her  life  she  had  written  '  ^The  History  of  the  Chris- 
tian Woman 's  Board  of  Missions  in  North  Carolina^'  Few  of  the  pioneer 
workers  in  the  State  are  left.  One  by  one  they  are  going  home  to  receive 
the  welcome  plaudits. 

With  true  Christian  fortitude,  with  patience  that  was  the  soul  of  peace 
she  bore  her  suffering  uncomplainingly.  Faith  was  the  anchor  to  which  her 
soul  was  fastened;  the  bridge  across  the  gulf  of  death.  Each  day's  suffer- 
ing only  seemed  to  make  her  soul  more  tranquil,  her  "rest  in  God"  more 
sure. 

As  the  refiner's  fire  gives  luster  to  the  gold,  so  does  the  Christ's  love 
for  humanity  make  the  human  countenance  resplendent  with  a  holy  spiritual 
enthusiasm:  such  was  the  face  of  our  sainted  loved  one,  nor  did  the 
features  belie  her  character.  True  to  every  noble  impulse,  ever  ready  to 
respond  to  the  right,  opposed  to  wrong,  she  counted  no  sacrifice  too  great 
for  her,  that  could  uplift  or  benefit  mankind. 

Tender,  kind  and  sympathetic,  she  was  always  anxious  to  help  the  lowly. 
No  wild  fanatic  in  defence  of  vague  theories,  but  endowed  with  a  strong, 
logical  mind,  she  turned  on  the  searchlight  of  truth.  Noble  "Mother  in 
Israel ' '  true  to  every  conviction  of  her  mind,  no  fear  intimidated,  no 
obstacle  appalled  her,  but  girded  with  the  sanction  of  divine  truth  she 
lived  a  true  champion  of  the  right/l 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST    LEADERS  301 

IWinsor  Dixon  I 

1802-1858 

Winsor  Dixon  became  attached  to  the  Disciples  about  the  time 
of  Thomas  Campbell's  visit  to  Hookerton  in  March,  1834.  He 
probably  entertained  Campbell  in  his  hospitable  home.  He  was 
a  native  of  Greene  County. 

His  first  wife  was  Miss  Sallie  Dunn,  a  sister  of  John  P.  Dunn. 
His  first  wife  having  died,  his  second  wife  was  Miss  Clary  Albrit- 
ton.  He  was  a  member  of  the  American  Bible  Union.  He  pre- 
sided at  the  State  Convention  in  1841,  at  Piney  Grove  Church 
when  the  Bethel  Conference  of  North  Carolina  openly  advocated 
the  principles  of  the  "Restoration  Movement."  He  also  pre- 
sided at  the  State  Meetings  in  1843  and  1846.  He  educated  his 
son,  Dr.  Frank  W.  Dixon,  at  Bethany  College,  West  Virginia. 
He  had  one  other  son  named  J.  S.  Dixon,  and  the  following 
daughters:  Mrs.  John  Coward,  Mrs.  William  Coward,  Mrs. 
Lemuel  Mewborne,  Mrs.  J.  J.  Murphy,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Faircloth,  and 
Mrs.  C.  A.  D.  Grainger.  He  never  preached,  but  was  a  promi- 
nent layman  in  the  church.  He  taught  school,  and  farmed,  and 
lived  at  Holliday  Hill,  five  miles  east  of  Snow  Hill,  and  four 
and  one-half  miles  from  Hookerton. 


mrj 


Mrs.  Sue  Helen  Draughan 

1846-1924 

The  following  is  from  a  memoir  which  appeared  in  the  Raleigh, 
North  Carolina,  News  and  Observer,  June  23.  1924: 

Mrs.  Draughan  was  educated  at  Winston-Salem  Academy.  After  finish- 
ing her  education,  she  married  Mr.  James  Draughan.  They  established  their 
home  in  Edgecombe  County,  where  Mr.  Draughan  died  in  1879. 

Mrs.  Draughan  continued  to  live  at  the  home  she  and  her  husband  built 
until  about  fifteen  years  ago,  when  she  went  to  live  with  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Rufus  Cherry,  in  Roseneath  Township,  Halifax  County,  and  lived  there  until 
her  death. 

There  were  eight  children  born  in  the  family,  of  which  four,  Mrs.  Wal- 
lace Askew,  Mrs.  Alex.  Barnes,  Mrs.  Hannah  Cherry  and  Mrs.  Frank  Leigh- 
ton,  are  now  living. 

Mrs.  Draughan  taught  in  the  public  schools  in  Edgecombe  County  forty 
years.  She  was  a  member  of  a  congregation  of  Disciples,  organized  at 
Bethany  church  in  Edgecombe  County,  of  which  only  two  members  of  the 


302  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

original  organization  are  now  living.  She  was  one  of  the  charter  members 
of  the  Christian  Woman 's  Board  of  Missions  of  North  Carolina,  of  which 
only  one,  Mrs.  Clara  Grainger,  is  left. 

Mrs.  Draughan  was  a  devoted  member  of  the  Church  of  Christ  and  a 
strong  advocate  of  the  New  Testament.  She  was  a  constant  student  of 
the  Bible  and  was  authority  on  Bible  subjects  and  (when  in  health)  never 
missed  an  opportunity  to  present  the  apostolic  plea  as  given  in  the  New 
Testament. 

John  Patrick  Dunn 
1792-1859 

John  Patrick  Dunn  was  a  native  of  Lenoir  County.  He  had 
two  handsome  country  homes,  one  called  "The  Pleasant  Villa," 
the  other,  "The  LaFayette."  These  were  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
present  Airy  Grove  Church.  He  and  another  man  were  the 
only  ones,  each  employing  a  butler  in  Lenoir  County  in  his  day. 
When  he  went  to  church  he  drove  a  "Coach  and  Four." 

He  was  baptized  August,  1830 ;  and  preached  his  first  sermon 
in  Greenville,  North  Carolina,  October,  1830.  He  was  acknowl- 
edged leader  in  the  first  co-operative  service  of  North  Caro- 
lina Disciples,  called  "The  Union  Meeting  of  Disciples  of 
Christ,"  and  was  their  most  influential  representative  in  their 
union  with  the  Bethel  Conference  of  North  Carolina  at  Hooker- 
ton,  May  2nd,  1845.  He  began  his  ministry  when  there  were 
only  four  ministers  of  Disciples  in  North  Carolina,  the  other 
three  being  General  William  Clark,  Abraham  Congleton,  and 
Jeremiah  Leggett,  all  of  whom  were  characterized  as  "brethren 
of  the  most  pure  and  unblemished  religious  characters."  He 
brought  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh  to  the  State  March  15,  1852. 

George  Joyner  in  a  sketch  of  him  said  :x 

He  exercised  his  ministerial  functions  for  twenty  nine  years,  not  only 
with  honor  to  himself,  but  with  satisfaction  and  delight  to  his  congrega- 
tions. The  dignity  of  his  appearance,  the  impressive  manner  of  his  de- 
livery, and  the  salutary  advice  of  his  discourses,  always  interested,  and 
affected  his  hearers.  His  influence  among  the  brethren  was  extensive,  his 
opinions  always  guided  by  that  sound  judgment  which  formed  one  of  the 
leading  features  in  his  character  were  held  in  the  highest  estimation  by 
the  many  friends  with  whom  he  acted.  The  reputation  which  he  required 
in  a  ministerial  capacity,  was  well  sustained  by  the  uprightness  and  good- 
ness of  his  private  life,  which  was  distinguished  by  prudence,  piety  and 
dignified  propriety  of  conduct.     There  have  been  very  few  men  more  univer- 


MEMOIRS   OF    PAST   LEADERS  303 

sally  respected,  more  sincerely  esteemed  in  the  whole  circle  of  acquaintance, 
or  more  tenderly  beloved  by  those  who  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  private  and 
domestic  connection. 

As  pastor  of  a  congregation,  Elder  Dunn  was  the  friend  and  father 
of  all  its  members.  In  their  spiritual  and  temporal  concerns,  he  was  a 
willing  and  able  adviser,  always  ready  to  hear  the  story  of  affliction,  and 
to  dispense  comfort  and  aid  to  all  who  were  troubled  and  cast  down. 

He  was  open,  bold,  and  even  animated  in  his  censure  of  vice.  He  re- 
garded neither  the  situation  nor  rank  of  those  who  had  grossly  offended, 
but  as  a  faithful,  and  fearless  minister,  he  spoke  to  them  of  ' '  righteousness, 
temperance,  and  judgment  to  come, ' '  and  presented  the  calamitous  state 
of  the  rejected  of  God,  with  such  force  and  imagery,  that  like  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  he  was  of  power  to  make  a  "Felix  tremble." 
*  *  *  "  His  last  discourse  was  delivered  at  Conference,  on  the  2nd. 
Lord's  day  in  October,  1859.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  his  ser- 
mons are  not  recorded.  They  would  have  exhibited  many  proofs  of  his 
excellence  as  a  minister.  But  his  fame  as  a  minister  can  now  live  in  its 
full  blaze  only  in  the  recollection  of  those  who  were  familiar  with  his 
preaching.  All  recorded  beauties  of  his  mind  would  fling  but  a  feeble 
light  from  the  dread  gloom  of  that  grave,  where  lie  the  mouldering  remains 
of  him,  who,  while  living,  charmed  and  enlightened  his  hearers.  He  has 
passed  away  from  earth,  but  his  memory  lives  in  indelible  character  upon 
the  tablets  of  our  hearts. 

The  American  Advocate,  a  local  paper  of  Kinston,  gave  a 
sketch  of  him,  in  which  we  found  the  following : 

There  is  one  circumstance  connected  with  Elder  Dunn 's  baptism,  which 
is  not  only  worthy  to  be  recorded,  but  imitated.  After  his  baptism  he  re- 
turned home,  and  that  night,  having  publicly  given  himself  to  the  Lord, 
and  took  upon  himself  the  yoke  of  Christ,  he  called  his  family  together, 
read  a  portion  of  God 's  word,  and  conducted  family  worship !  Brethren, 
behold  an  example  worthy  of  all  imitation !  As  already  stated,  he  com- 
menced preaching  in  October  following;  and  he  continued  to  preach  with 
great  acceptance  up  to  our  last  Annual  Meeting,  when,  in  reality,  he 
preached  his  farewell  sermon  to  his  brethren  in  Conference  assembled! 

Elder  Dunn  was  an  able  minister  of  the  gospel. — His  language  was  al- 
ways chaste,  and  his  manner  dignified  and  prepossessing.  He  was  in- 
strumental in  doing  much  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  to  him  the  Churches 
are  largely  indebted  for  their  prosperity. — He  was  looked  up  to  as  a 
father  in  the  gospel,  and  enjoyed  the  undiminished  confidence  of  his 
brethren  to  the  last. 

Elder  Dunn  was  a  firm  and  uncompromising  advocate  of  the  principles 
of  the  Current  Reformation,  and  maintained  them  in  theory  and  practice 
till  his  death.  His  funeral  was  preached  by  Elder  Jno.  T.  Walsh,  to  a 
very  large  assembly,  whom  sympathy  and  love  had  drawn  together  to 
look  once  more  on  the  face,  and  witness  the  interment  of  their  father, 
brother,   and   friend.     The   text   selected   by   Elder   Walsh   was   in   Isaiah, 


304  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

38th  chapter,  and  latter  part  of  the  first  verse:      "Thus  saith   the  Lord, 
set  thy  house  in  order;   for  thou  shalt  die,  and  not  live." 

After  the  close  of  the  discourse,  the  body  of  the  deceased  minister  was 
surrendered  into  the  hands  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  according  to  the 
request  of  the  deceased,  to  be  interred  by  them  according  to  the  usages 
of  the  Order.     A  large  number  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  was  present. 

Robert  Hart  Rountree,  who  died  in  1926,  told  of  an  inter- 
esting experience  he  had  with  Dunn.  He  said  that  he  was  about 
twelve  years  of  age  when  Dunn  was  discussing  with  his  father, 
Charles  Jenkins  Rountree,  the  uncertain  prospects  of  a  meet- 
ing at  Rountrees  church.  Concluding  Dunn  said  "I  suppose  I 
can  try  to  hold  you  a  meeting."  At  this  the  lad  warmly  re- 
monstrated saying  he  ought  to  speak  with  more  boldness  of 
faith  and  mental  determination.  Dunn  at  first  was  both  amused 
and  shocked  at  this  forward  speech  of  the  boy.  Finally  Dunn 
said  "you  are  right,  son,  we  must  say  we  will  hold  the  meeting 
and  trust  God  for  results."  He  held  a  splendid  meeting,  and 
the  church  was  mightily  revived. 

Mrs.  Theresa  Dunn 
1802-1845 

Mrs.  Theresa  Dunn  was  the  wife  of  John  Patrick  Dunn.  In 
a  brief  memoir  in  the  August,  1846,  Millennial  Harbinger, 
Robert  Bond  said  of  her : 

"For  more  than  seventeen  years  she  had  been  a  devoted  dis- 
ciple of  the  Great  Teacher,  and  earnestly  contended  for  the  faith 
and  practice  of  the  early  Christians  as  divinely  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament.  She  appeared  to  have  been  apprized  of  her  ap- 
proaching dissolution  for  several  weeks  before  it  took  place,  and 
frequently  expressed  her  confidence  in  the  Saviour  of  sinners, 
and  her  willingness  to  go  when  called  to  do  so." 

Joseph  Henry  Foy 

1838-1917 

As  Dr.  Foy  was  one  of  the  most  notable  educators  of  the 
state  we  have  given  a  sketch  of  him  in  Chapter  17,  pages  161-3. 
We  will  add  some  statements  here  pertaining  to  his  work  in 
the  church.    Amos  J.  Battle  baptised  him  in  Toisnot  Creek  near 


6  s  if 

'Ofl     .5  t-i   r." 


■2    °  o  ^ 


ft  Co    . 

3  ^     * 

o  -  — 

H  x  .S  ht 

C5  is     s 


ill 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST    LEADERS  305 

Wilson  in  January,  1868.  He  united  with  Corinth  Church  of 
Christ.  Battle  said:  "As  Bro.  Foy  was  so  well  qualified  for 
preaching  the  Gospel,  the  Church  had  him  ordained  and  his 
preaching  has  met  with  acceptance  everywhere."  At  the  ordi- 
nation Battle  predicted  "the  young  licentiate's  future  distinc- 
tion." He  located  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  in  March,  1878.  He 
was  pastor  at  first  of  the  Central  Christian  Church  in  that  city 
and  later  the  Fourth  Christian  Church.  J.  L.  Winfield  in  1884 
said  in  a  sketch  of  him  :2 

Our  Brother,  at  one  time,  embarked  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  was 
succeeding  fairly  in  securing  a  substantial  patronage,  when  he  was  ar- 
rested in  that  career  by  the  death  of  his  son  Paul.  This  bereavement 
turned  his  thoughts  to  religion,  and  led  finally  to  his  ministerial  career. 
Both  his  children  are  members  of  the  Church;  the  younger,  Miss  Josie, 
joining  during  the  past  summer.  In  early  life,  while  a  teacher,  Bro. 
Foy  studied  medicine,  but  never  practiced  except  on  himself,  as  his 
friends  and  the  druggists  used  humorously  to  say.  His  present  congre- 
gation is  very  indulgent  to  him,  giving  him  frequent  leaves  of  absence 
in  the  sickly  season.  For  months  at  a  time  they  have  exacted  but  one 
service  a  day,  and  this  kind  consideration  has  helped  him  to  bear  up 
under  the  great  load  of  a  city  pastorate.  *  *  *  Bro.  Foy  was  ordained 
to  the  ministry  in  the  year  1868,  but  did  not  give  himself  wholly  to  the 
work  for  the  first  ten  years  of  his  career.  He  employed  his  Saturdays 
and  Sundays  in  the  public  ministry  of  the  Word,  giving  the  remainder 
of  his  time  to  the  duties  of  his  schools.  His  vacations  were  always  given 
to  the  Lord's  work  either  in  Eastern  or  Western  North  Carolina,  and  he 
thus  became  widely  known  as  a  polished,  earnest  preacher  and  a  success- 
ful evangelist.  His  pulpit  power  was  always  recognized  at  our  Annual 
meetings  by  the  crowds  that  massed  at  the  stand  or  in  the  meeting-house 
where  it  was  known  that  he  would  preach.  He  was  for  years  Pastor  of 
the  Church  in  Kinston,  serving  it  for  a  long  time  without  salary,  in  order 
to  help  the  brethren  who  were  frustrated  financially  by  the  war  to  move 
and  fit  up  a  comfortable  house  of  worship.  In  this  he  was  greatly  as- 
sisted by  Aunt  Cynthia  Dunn,  the  recognized  pillar  of  the  congregation, 
and  by  the  Tulls,  Loftins,  Eountrees,  Harpers,  Myers,  Nichols,  and  others. 
Bro.  Foy  also  served  the  congregation  at  Pleasant  Hill,  Jones  Co.;  Bethel, 
Lenoir  Co. ;  Wheat  Swamp,  Lenoir  Co. ;  and  at  other  points  which  we 
cannot  now  recall,  for  periods  of  longer  or  shorter  duration.  He  was  al- 
ways popular  and  efficient,  never  having  had  in  the  whole  course  of  his 
North  Carolina  ministration  a  single  vote  cast  against  him  when  the 
question  came  up  annually,  "whom  shall  we  employ  for  another  year?" 
Some  of  these  congregations  sent  him  warm  letters  of  commendation 
when  he  was  attacked  by  certain  Western  papers  for  alleged  departures 
from  the  simplicity  of  our  plea.  We  do  not  side  with  Bro.  Foy  in  his 
controversy  with  tire  brethren,  but  remembering  his  long  and  loyal  service 


306  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

to  the  cause,  much  of  it  without  reward  or  the  hope  of  reward,  we  are 
loth  to  give  any  aid  or  countenance  to  some  who  would  like  to  crush  him 
if  they  could.  He  was  reported  to  have  grown  rather  "liberal"  in  his 
views — to  be  tending,  indeed,  toward  Unitarianism,  but  this  originated 
probably  from  his  participation  in  the  Channing  Memorial  services,  and 
in  the  "consecration"  or  "dedication"  of  the  Church  of  the  Messiah  in 
St.  Louis,  two  years  ago.  We  have  read  nothing  in  the  published  utter- 
ance of  Brother  Foy  either  in  the  religious  or  secular  journals  of  the 
day  that  shows  any  abatement  of  faith  in  the  Divinity  of  our  Blessed 
Lord.  We  believe  him  to  be  sound  on  every  essential  tenet  of  the  common 
Christian  Faith  and  in  the  leading  peculiarities  of  our  own  special  Plea. 
Other  denominations  would  gladly  welcome  a  man  of  his  culture  and  abil- 
ity into  their  folds,  but  he  clings  to  the  Church  of  his  love,  and  though  he 
may  violate  some  tradition  that  is  dear  to  many,  or  fraternize  too  closely 
with  those  whom  some  regard  as  enemies  of  the  Faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints,  he  has  never  opened  his  lips  or  penned  an  article,  so  far  as  the 
writer  of  this  biographical  sketch  knows,  to  give  his  side  of  the  question. 
That  he  can  do  so  vigorously  we  all  know.  We  frequently  see  reports  of 
his  sermons  in  the  St.  Louis  papers  and  we  judge  from  the  place  and 
space  given  to  him  that  he  ranks  among  the  foremost  preachers  in  public 
estimation,  of  that  great  city.  He  has  been  called  to  some  of  the  best 
churches  among  the  Disciples  since  he  went  to  St.  Louis,  but  has  in- 
variably declined.  His  health  has  been  very  delicate  for  a  number  of 
years,  but  being  of  a  wiry  and  tough  organization  he  has  performed  an 
amount  of  labor  that  would  have  killed  men  apparently  much  better  en- 
dowed physically  than  he. 

William  R.  Fulcher 
1801-1877 
Alonzo  J.  Holton  gave  the  following  sketch  in  1878  :3 

Elder  William  R.  Fulcher,  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Fulcher,  was  born 
in  Craven  County,  North  Carolina,  June  the  17th,  1801.  At  the  age  of 
about  twenty-six  years  he  confessed  his  faith  in  Christ  by  obedience  to 
the  gospel,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Free  Will  Baptist  Church,  where 
he  remained  for  several  years,  when  he  became  convinced  of  the  great 
necessity  of  all  God 's  people  being  united  in  one  body,  and  severed  his 
connection  with  the  Baptists,  and  became  united  with  the  Disciples  of 
Christ,   where   he   remained  the   remainder  of   his   life. 

He  was  married  twice,  first  to  Miss  Catherine  Morgan,  January  3rd, 
1826,  and  secondly  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Keel,  March  12th,  1857,  who  survives 
him,  having  three  children  living.  He  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry  June  6th,  1841,  by  Elders  Robert  Bond  and  John  Powell.  From 
that  time,  for  a  period  of  about  twenty  years,  he  preached  regularly,  and 
after  then  occasionally,  up  to  a  few  years  before  his  death,  when  he  became 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST   LEADERS  307 

so  hard  of  hearing,  and  afflicted  otherwise,  he  had  to  stop  entirely  for 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  Bro.  William  R.  Fulcher,  as  a  man,  stood  high 
in  the  estimation  of  the  people  generally;  and  was  regarded  as  an  honest 
and  peaceable  citizen  and  good  neighbor.  As  a  Christian,  he  was  con- 
sistent. His  comforts  and  hopes  were  derived  from  faith  in  Christ,  and 
the  promises  of  His  word.  His  piety  was  of  that  character  as  to  enable 
him  to  give  a  reason  for  the  hope  that  dwelt  in  him.  As  a  preacher,  he 
earnestly  contended  for  the  truth,  making  no  compromise  with  error. 

John  B.  Gaylord 
1816-1851 
Josephus  Latham  said  in  a  sketch  of  John  B.  Gaylord:4 

The  subject  of  the  sketch  was  born  of  humble  parentage,  in  Beaufort 
County,  North  Carolina.  His  opportunities  were  very  limited.  His  parents 
being  poor,  he  was  prevented  from  cultivating  his  excellent  mind.  But 
he  succeeded  in  getting  some  knowledge  of  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic. 
He  grew  up  beloved  by  those  who  knew  him;  and  having  a  naturally  kind 
and  sympathizing  heart,  he  won  the  affection  of  those  with  whom  he 
associated.  He  seemed  to  be  inclined  to  religion  at  an  early  day,  and 
joined  the  Methodist  Church  when  young.  But  afterwards  united  with 
those  who  were  sometimes  called  Free  Will  Baptists.  In  May,  1839,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Ann  Smith,  daughter  of  Elder  Henry  Smith,  and 
continued  to  live  in  Beaufort  County,  till  1842.  He  then  moved  to  Hamil- 
ton, Martin  County.  In  a  short  time  afterwards  he  moved  to  Newbern, 
where  he  worked  at  coach  making  under  the  direction  of  Syndam.  Here 
he  staid  till  he  became  an  excellent  workman.  He  lived  in  Newbern  sev- 
eral years,  and  during  the  time  united  with  the  congregation  of  Disciples 
meeting  at  Broad  Creek  near  the  town,  and  became  a  very  active  member 
of  said  congregation.  After  a  few  months'  membership,  at  the  solicitation 
of  the  church,  he  commenced  preaching.  It  was  not  uncommon  to  see  his 
Testament  on  his  workbench  while  he  was  at  his  labors;  and  he  daily  made 
it  his  study  at  almost  every  spare  moment.  This  being  the  case  he  rapidly 
improved,  and  became  a  considerable  help  to  the  cause  in  that  region. 

In  1848  he  moved  to  the  town  of  Kinston  in  Lenoir  County,  and  com- 
menced the  business  of  coach  making  under  very  inauspicious  circum- 
stances; but  in  a  few  years  he  did  a  fair  business.  In  the  meantime  he 
preached  for  the  church  of  Christ  at  Kinston  and  in  the  vicinity.  Though 
he  was  neither  learned  nor  eloquent,  yet  so  much  sincerity  was  manifested, 
and  such  great  zeal  shown  by  him,  in  his  ministerial  labors,  that  he  became 
a  successful  and  popular  advocate  of  the  "Ancient  order  of  things." 
*  *  *  On  Monday,  January  13,  1851,  the  body  of  this  precious  man  was 
carried  to  the  Christian  Chapel  in  Kinston.  The  funeral  discourse  was 
preached  by  Elder  Jno.  P.  Dunn.  The  body  was  then  interred  in  the 
grave  near  the  church. 


308  north  carolina  disciples  of  christ 

Thomas  Green 

1857-1919 

Thomas  Green  was  a  native  of  Nansemond  County,  Virginia. 
He  made  his  home  at  Pant  ego,  North  Carolina.  He  was  or- 
dained to  the  ministry,  September  4,  1891.  He  was  an  earnest, 
plain,  faithful  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  He  ministered  for  many 
years  in  Martin,  Washington,  Perquimans,  Beaufort,  and  other 
Eastern  Counties.  He  came  to  the  Disciples  from  the  Christian 
Connection. 

J.  T.  Grubbs 

1843-1907 

The  following  is  from  a  sketch  of  J.  T.  Grubbs,  by  S.  W. 
Sumrell,  written  in  1907  :5 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Virginia  about  1843  or  '44.  He 
was  captain  of  some  company  in  the  War  Between  the  States,  and  has 
been  known  since  as  Captain  Grubbs.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Kate 
Aldridge  about  1S66,  and  united  with  the  Union  Baptist  church  about 
1867,  and  was  baptized,  I  think,  by  Elder  B.  W.  Nash ;  was  ordained  to 
the  ministry  about  '70  or  '71,  and  preached  for  a  good  many  churches  of 
that  body  as  long  as  he  remained  with  it.  His  wife  died,  I  think,  in  1879, 
leaving  six  children. 

Nearly  twenty  years  ago  Brother  Grubbs  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza 
Fields.  He  united  with  the  Church  of  Christ,  the  Bethel  Congregation 
about  nine  years  ago,  and  was  received  in  the  Convention  as  a  minister 
that  fall.  While  he  was  with  us,  he  preached  for  Mount  Pleasant,  near 
Greenville,  for  Red  Oak,  he  preached  in  Jones  and  Onslow  one  year,  and  in 
Wayne  and  Johnson  counties.  He  died  on  Friday  night  before  the  fourth 
Lord 's  day  in  August,  1907,  and  was  buried  Saturday  by  the  Masonic 
Order.  Service  was  conducted  by  D.  W.  Davis,  of  Washington,  North 
Carolina.  Brother  Grubbs  died  in  the  faith  and  leaves  a  wife,  seven 
children,  many  relatives  and  friends. 

Notes 

1Minutes,  1861.  ^Watch  Tower,  Feb.  15,  1884,  pagre  1.  3Minutes,  1878. 
4Ibid.,   1853.     5Ibid.,    1907. 


Chapter  XXXIII 

MEMOIRS  OF  PAST  LEADERS   (CONTINUED) 

Henry  Smith  Gurganus 

1825-1911 

Henry  Smith  Gurganus  was  the  son  of  the  pioneer  preacher, 
John  M.  Gurganus,  and  a  native  of  Washington  County.  In 
physique  he  was  of  low  stature.  He  preached  for  the  Disciples 
many  years  at  his  local  church,  Christian  Hope,  and  at  points  in 
adjacent  counties.  In  1872  Charles  Cobe,  a  minister  of  the  Dis- 
ciples came  into  the  State  from  Pennsylvania.  As  Gurganus 
believed  in  ceremonial  feet-washing  and  practiced  it  Cobe  chal- 
lenged him  soon  for  a  debate  on  the  subject.1  Accordingly  they 
met  at  Poplar  Chapel  for  the  discussion.  Gurganus  had  studied 
with  all  his  strength.  He  won  the  decision  of  the  judges  for 
his  affirmative.  However  Gurganus  was  honest  with  himself 
and  admitted  afterwards  that  his  earnest  study  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament occasioned  by  the  debate  had  convinced  him  that  cere- 
monial feet-washing  was  not  a  command  for  the  Church  of 
Christ.     So  he  gave  up  the  practice  of  it. 

John  M.  Gurganus 

1802-1876 

John  M.  Gurganus  was  a  native  of  Washington  County.  The 
following  is  from  a  sketch  of  him  by  Josephus  Latham  :2 

The  grave  has  received  another  of  earth 's  bright  jewels,  in  the  person 
of  Elder  John  M.  Gurganus,  who  stood  the  storms  of  many  winters,  but 
like  the  majestic  oak  of  the  forest,  is  now  felled  by  the  hand  of  death. 
In  early  life  he  manifested  great  veneration  for  his  Creator,  and  as 
might  have  been  expected,  he  cast  his  lot  with  the  people  of  God,  and  like 
all  pure  Christians,  his  soul  longed  for  the  salvation  of  sinners — to  see 
others  in  the  service  of  Him  in  whom  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being;  and  though  he  never  had  the  opportunity  of  procuring  a  good 
education,  yet,  he  determined  to  do  what  he  could  for  the  cause  of  his 
redeemer;  and  his  fine  standing  as  a  pure  Christian,  combined  with  great 
zeal    and   warmth    of    heart,   had    a   powerful    effect    in    winning    souls    to 

309 


310  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Christ.  For  what  cares  our  inquiring'  one  interested  in  his  salvation, 
whether  the  answer  to  the  question  ' '  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved, ' '  comes 
to  him  in  rounded  sentences  and  polished  words,  or  not?  And  while  souls 
are  perishing  and  the  cause  of  our  Savior  languishing,  all  should  do  their 
duty.  The  past  shows  that  though  Brother  Gurganus'  opportunities  had 
been  so  meager,  yet,  when  he  went  forth  preaching  the  word,  he  was  won- 
derfully successful,  and,  perhaps  never  more  so  than  since  the  war.  He 
like  some  others  saw,  after  the  war,  unless  extra  efforts  were  made,  the 
cause  of  pure  Christianity  must  languish  in  our  State;  and  he  buckled  on 
the  armor  more  closely,  and  prepared  for  the  conflict;  and  aided  by  his 
devoted  son,  Henry,  they  commenced  in  earnest;  and  for  weeks  left  home 
and  business,  and  proclaimed  the  Gospel  to  perishing  sinners.  The  result 
was  glorious.  Scores  were  added,  and  churches  revived  in  the  counties 
near  them.  And  though  they  preached  and  sacrificed  thus,  it  was  without 
compensation.  While  we  may  admire  heroic  losses  of  time  and  means, 
we  cannot  as  well  admire  the  principle  which  withholds  the  helping  hand; 
but  neither  poverty  nor  opposition  could  deter  this  blessed  man  from  duty; 
hence  he  battled  on  until  death  found  him  at  his  post,  but  not  until  he 
had  seen  two  more  of  his  sons  wielding  the  sword  of  the  Spirit — one  of 
whom  is  our  beloved  Evangelist,  whose  praise  is  in  all  the  churches.  The 
writer  of  this  loved  Bro.  Gurganus  with  undying-  affection.  He  was  the 
friend  and  co  laborer  of  his  (my)  venerable  father,  T.  J.  Latham,  long 
years  ago,  between  whom  there  existed  a  very  warm  attachment  for  each 
other.     When  but  a  youth,  the  writer  learned  to  love  him. 

The  writer  looked  upon  Bro.  Gurganus  as  one  of  the  purest  and  best 
of  his  day- — filling  up  the  measure  of  a  follower  of  Christ — a  good  neigh- 
bor, a  good  husband,  a  good  father,  and,  above  all,  a  pious  Christian,  who 
goes  to  the  grave  with  a  name  unsullied. 


Joseph  Grey  Gurganus 

1850-1882 

Joseph  Grey  Gurganus  was  a  native  of  Christian  Hope  com- 
munity, Washington  County;  a  son  of  John  M.  Gurganus. 
Henry  Winfield  said  in  a  sketch  of  him : 

He  professed  faith  in  Christ  and  was  baptized  by  Eld.  J.  B.  Respess. 
He  entered  upon  the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry  soon  after  his  bap- 
tism, and  was  ordained  by  Eld.  J.  J.  Coltrain  the  second  year  of  his 
ministrations.  As  a  man,  he  was  amiable,  generous  and  kind.  Truly  can 
it  be  said  of  Him:  the  world  is  better  for  his  having  lived  in  it.  "None 
knew  him  but  to  love  him;  none  named  him  but  to  praise."  As  a  preacher 
he  was  faithful,  firm,  zealous,  and  an  indefatigable  worker.  I  recall  with 
pleasure  my  association  with  him,  as  a  co-laborer  in  the  Master's  cause, 
and  cheerfully  concede  to  him  an  unequaled  amount  of  vital  energy  and 
patient  devotion  in  the  arduous  labors  of  the  ministry.     As  a  husband  and 


MEMOIRS   OP    PAST   LEADERS  311 

father,  he  was  gentle,  loving  and  just.  As  a  Christian  he  was  of  good 
report.  The  churches  blessed  by  his  labors  speak  his  praise.  He  labored 
in  "Washington  and  Tyrrell  Counties  with  great  success,  and  his  visits  to 
other  counties  were  followed  by  no  mean  reports.  His  Christian  integrity, 
sterling  energy,  and  unswerving  devotion  to  the  Master's  cause,  made  him 
a  Peter  in  impulsive  zeal,  a  John  of  meek  and  persuasive  bearing,  and, 
at  times  a  "Son  of  Thunder."  Having  bought  the  good  fight  of  faith, 
he  died  with  his  armor  on. 

James  \V.  Hardison 

1831-1906 

James  W.  Hardison  was  a  native  of  Martin  County.  He  was 
baptized  in  October,  1873,  and  ordained  to  ministry  among  the 
Disciples  in  April,  1874.  He  was  pastor  at  Macedonia  several 
years.  He  also  served  Poplar  Chapel  and  Manning's  School- 
house.  His  voice  was  impaired,  and  his  discourses  in  the  pulpit 
practically  ceased  for  a  long  period  before  his  death.  He  con- 
tinued, however,  to  officiate  at  marriages  and  burials. 

John  James  Harper 
1841-1908 

John  James  Harper  was  a  founder  of  Atlantic  Christian  Col- 
lege. He  was  born  near  Bentonville,  North  Carolina,  and  died 
at  Atlantic  Christian  College.  As  a  remarkable  coincidence  it 
may  be  observed  that  the  year  of  his  birth  was  the  first  of  re- 
corded minutes  of  North  Carolina  Disciples  as  a  State  group, 
and  the  year  of  his  death  marked  the  accession  of  Jesse  Cobb 
Caldwell  to  the  Presidency  of  Atlantic  Christian  College.  Cald- 
well successfully  administered  the  affairs  of  the  college  for  a  re- 
markably long  and  fruitful  period.  Dr.  Harper  was  a  son  of 
John  Harper,  who  was  a  charter  member  of  one  of  the  oldest 
North  Carolina  Churches  of  Christ,  Mill  Creek. 

The  following  concerning  the  Harper  family  and  homestead 
is  an  abstract  of  data  from  a  genealogist's  record.3 

The  Harper  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  English  history. 
An  ancestor  of  John  J.  Harper  was  a  Norman  French  officer 
under  William  the  Conqueror,  at  the  Battle  of  Hastings  in  1066, 
and  was  knighted  on  the  field  for  bravery  after  that  battle. 
His  name  thus  belongs  to  the  Norman  aristocracy. 


312  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Some  of  the  Harpers,  about  1650,  united  with  the  Quakers 
under  the  leadership  of  George  Fox.  In  1682,  one  year  after 
William  Penn  obtained  a  grant  of  land  from  Charles  II  in 
Pennsylvania,  the  Harper  family  came  hence.  At  that  time 
John  Harper  settled  near  Philadelphia  and  became  ancestor  of 
the  Pennsylvania  branch  of  the  family.  The  first  record  of  him 
was  found  in  a  Quaker  Graveyard  in  Philadelphia.  This  John 
Harper  had  two  brothers,  one  of  whom  settled  in  New  York 
and  was  ancestor  of  the  Harper  who  established  Harper  Pub- 
lishing Company.  The  other  brother  settled  in  Virginia  and  was 
the  ancestor  of  the  Harpers  who  went  west  to  Kentucky  and 
eastern  Ohio,  and  it  is  from  him  that  William  R.  Harper,  a 
president  of  Chicago  University,  descended.  These  Harpers  in 
England  intermarried  with  the  English  so  the  blood  was  origin- 
ally Norman-English.  The  John  Harper  of  Pennsylvania  ar- 
rived in  Philadelphia  August  2nd,  1682.  He  had  a  son  Joseph 
Harper  who  with  his  Uncle  Robert  settled  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
Virginia,  and  named  the  place.  This  Harper's  Ferry  property 
in  Berkley  County,  West  Virginia,  was  bought  of  Lord  Fairfax 
in  1749.  In  1763  he  incorporated  his  Ferry.  This  piece  of  land 
consisted  of  125  acres,  and  he  paid  for  it  sixty  Guineas  in  gold. 

The  fourth  man  in  this  line  named  John  Harper  was  a  son 
of  Joseph  Harper  and  was  born  in  1719  and  died  in  1793.  He 
was  the  father  of  another  John  Harper  who  was  a  Revolutionary 
soldier,  who  was  the  first  one  of  the  Harpers  to  come  to  North 
Carolina.  This  John  Harper,  the  Revolutionary  soldier,  was 
under  Lafayette  and  was  at  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  York- 
town.  He  served  from  June  4,  1781  to  June  4,  1782.  This  John 
Harper  was  born  in  1762  and  died  1834.  He  married  Ann 
Covington  of  Staunton,  Virginia,  where  he  had  a  son  John, 
born  in  1803.  This  son,  John,  was  the  one  who  became  a  deacon 
in  old  Mill  Creek  church  in  Johnston  County,  North  Carolina. 
It  was  said  of  this  John  Harper : 

Little  was  known  about  his  earlier  home  or  his  family,  he  was  a  quiet 
man  and  spoke  seldom  of  his  family,  and  then  only  with  a  reserve,  as  ap- 
parently he  had  set  himself  apart,  for  some  reason  which  was  unknown 
to  them,  but  as  it  has  developed  since  it  was  caused  most  likely  by  the 
choice  he  made  when  he  took  up  arms.  It  is  known  that  Robert  Harper, 
was  against  it,  somewhat  perhaps  on  account  of  earlier  teaching  of  their 
Quaker  ancestor  the  first  John  Harper,  but  more  likely  because  he  was 
known  to  lean  strongly  to  the  Torys,  and  whether  his  brother  John  Harper 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST   LEADERS  313 

was  of  the  same  opinion  or  not  cannot  be  said ;  it  is  possible  such  was 
the  case,  and  if  young  John  Harper  left  home  to  enlist  against  these  op- 
positions, it  would  account  for  his  stand  in  later  years;  if  so  he  was  not 
the  only  one  of  this  old  family  to  do  so,  for  a  number  of  his  Pennsyl- 
vania cousins  did  the  same,  among  whom  was  Major  John  Harper,  who 
was  another  of  the  fighting  Quakers,  and  others  so  that  there  will  be  found 
a  goodly  number  of  those  bearing  the  name  of  Harper,  among  our  Revolu- 
tionary Soldiers  and  officers. 

The  John  Harper,  who  became  deacon  in  Mill  Creek  church 
of  Christ,  was  the  sixth  name  in  this  line.  He  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 18,  1803,  in  or  near  Staunton,  Virginia,  and  came  to  North 
Carolina  with  his  parents  as  a  child.  He  married  Amy  Ann 
Woodard,  the  daughter  of  James  Woodard.  She  was  born  in 
1820  and  died  in  1900.  This  John  Harper  was  the  father  of 
John  James  Harper,  the  subject  of  this  memoir.  Another  son 
was  Dr.  Martin  W.  Harper  who  helped  to  establish  the  Chris- 
tian Church  at  Dunn,  North  Carolina.  Nathan  B.  Hood  married 
a  daughter  of  John  Harper.  Hood  left  his  estate  of  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  to  the  Christian  Church  at  Dunn. 

All  that  remains  of  the  original  Harper  homestead  near  Mill 
Creek  in  Johnston  County  is  the  old  chimney  and  fireplace.  In 
the  early  days  the  stage  coach  road  from  Raleigh  to  Fayetteville 
crossed  the  coach  road  from  Smitlifield  to  New  Bern  in  the 
corner  of  the  grove  surrounding  the  old  house.  They  had  a 
post  office  there  called  Harper's.  However,  the  first  John  Harper 
to  come  to  this  place,  who  erected  this  old  settler's  home,  did 
not  leave  it  for  the  new  home  that  John  Harper,  the  Mill  Creek 
deacon  built.  The  big  new  home  was  used  as  a  hospital  during 
the  battle  of  Bentonville,  March,  1865. 

John  James  Harper  was  baptized  by  Henry  D.  Cason,  of 
Washington,  North  Carolina,  July  29,  1860.  He  preached  his 
first  sermon,  May  18,  1861,  and  was  enrolled  as  a  minister  by 
the  "Annual  Conference  of  Disciples  of  Christ,"  at  Pleasant 
Hill  Church  in  October,  1862.  He  married  Miss  Arrita  Ander- 
son Daniel,  of  Pitt  County,  North  Carolina,  May  1,  1862.  He 
was  State  Evangelist  of  the  Disciples  during  a  part  of  the  Civil 
War  (1863-65).  He  received  almost  $1,000  per  year,  "Con- 
federate money."  During  the  last  year  of  the  war,  because  his 
only  horse  had  been  taken  by  Federal  soldiers,  and  other  circum- 
stances incident  to  Sherman's  invasion,  his  work  was  confined 
to  the  churches  in  Johnston.  Wayne,  and  Sampson  counties. 


314  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

He  represented  Johnston  County  in  the  State  Senate  in  1881. 
He  edited  the  Christian  Visitor  in  1876-77,  and  1886-87.  His 
most  important  pastorates  were:  "Wilsons  Mills,  Dunn,  La- 
Grange,  Wilson',  Washington,  and  Kinston.  He  was  a  planter, 
merchant,  preacher,  teacher,  editor,  and  statesman. 

He  was  the  first  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Atlantic 
Christian  College,  and  in  the  darkest  hour  of  the  history  of 
the  college  in  1904,  he  was  persuaded  to  leave  his  Washington, 
North  Carolina,  pastorate  and  become  college  president.  For 
the  first  year  he  cheerfully  served  without  salary,  in  view  of 
the  desperate  situation  of  the  college,  which,  however,  greatly 
improved  before  his  death.  While  president  of  Atlantic  Chris- 
tian College,  he  received  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D. 

Dr.  J.  J.  Harper  and  his  able  contemporaries,  Dr.  Walsh, 
Peter  Hines,  and  Moses  Moye  originated  and  maintained,  by 
their  work  and  influence  the  unique  State  Constitution  of  the 
Disciples,  with  its  strong  articles  relating  to  the  qualifications  of 
the  ministry — a  Constitution  which  has  been  a  standing,  actual 
terror  to  any  unworthy  minister  seeking  to  impose  on  the 
churches. 

For  a  quarter  of  a  century,  the  personality  of  Dr.  Harper, 
perhaps  was  the  most  outstanding  and  influential  among  North 
Carolina  Disciples.  His  scrupulous  care  preserved  to  the  Dis- 
ciples virtually  intact  the  most  important  historic  records  of 
their  North  Carolina  conventions.  He  presided  at  eleven  State 
Conventions.  He  builded  extensively  the  co-operative  life  of  the 
North  Carolina  Disciples. 

Henry  Donald  Harper 

1847-1906 

Henry  Donald  Harper  was  a  native  of  Johnston  County  and 
brother  of  John  James  Harper.  The  following  is  from  a  sketch 
of  him  in  the  Convention  Minutes  of  1907. 

He  was  brought  up  on  the  farm  until  he  reached  the  age  of  seventeen 
years,  when,  in  1S64,  he  joined  the  Confederate  army  as  a  member  of  Gris- 
wold's  Independent  Company,  of  Goldsboro.  He  was,  in  a  short  time,  de- 
tailed as  courier  to  Col.  Stephen  D.  Pool,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  except  that  in  the  battle  of  Cobb's  Mill,  near  Kins- 
ton,  he  was  granted  permission  to   join  his   company   in  the   fight. 


MEMOIRS   OP    PAST    LEADERS  315 

At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  his  father's  home  and  re- 
mained with  him  until  1869.  In  this  year  he  entered  Kentucky  Univer- 
sity, at  Lexington,  Kentucky,  where  he  received  his  literary  and  minis- 
terial education,  also  his  education  in  dentistry  under  Hodgen  &  Kelly. 

When  he  entered  college  he  had  only  $75.00,  the  total  amount  his 
father  was  able  to  give  him.  He  was,  therefore,  thrown  upon  his  own  re- 
sources for  his  education.  He  served  one  year  at  the  painter's  trade.  At 
the  end  of  the  first  year  he  became  a  member  of  Prof.  J.  W.  McGarvey's 
family,  where  he  remained  for  three  years,  upon  the  condition  that  he 
should  paint  the  Professor 's  dwelling,  attend  to  the  stock,  etc.,  which  he 
did  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  teacher. 

After  graduating  he  traveled  for  some  time,  preaching  and  practicing 
dentistry.  He  was  at  one  time  State  evangelist.  Dr.  Harper  married 
Miss  Delia  Coward,  on  April  21,  1877.  In  1882  he  located  in  Kinston. 
He  at  once  became  identified  with  the  business  interests  of  his  adopted  town. 
He  was  chairman  of  Lenoir  County  Board  of  Education  for  five  years; 
he  commanded  the  Naval  Reserve  when  first  organized  in  Kinston.  He  was 
elected  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  division.  When  his  dental  practice 
forbade  his  longer  service  to  the  company,  they  presented  to  him  a  sword 
for  his  faithful  service.  He  was  appointed,  during  the  Spanish- American 
War,  chaplain  of  the  naval  batallion  of  the  State.  He  was  a  Mason,  Odd 
Fellow,  Pythian,  and  Knight  of  Harmony.  He  was  a  ready  speaker, 
and  was  frequently  called  upon  for  addresses  on  various  social  and  religious 
occasions.  In  his  address  at  the  funeral  of  Dr.  Harper,  his  pastor  said: 
"Dr.  Harper's  life  has  touched  with  every  other  life  in  Kinston.  Do  we 
mention  business?  In  every  worthy  enterprise  he  placed  his  money  or  gave 
encouragement  to  his  friends.  In  his  practice  of  dentistry  he  has  given 
surcease  of  pain  to  many  hundreds.  In  the  fraternities  his  name  is  well 
known.  He  was  joy  at  your  weddings  and  comfort  at  your  funerals.  The 
church  has  heard  his  prayers  and  his  songs  and  has  been  edified  by  his 
sermons.  Versatile  and  accommodating  he  has  been  the  man  for  your  pub- 
lic gatherings  and  your  social  functions.  Truly  a  prince  and  a  great  man 
has  fallen  today  .  As  the  sun  arose  on  yesterday,  his  life  flickered,  like  a 
lamp,  and  went  out.  This  body  has  no  animation;  no  light  beams  from 
its  eyes,  no  smile  plays  upon  its  lips.  Our  brother  is  not  here.  'He  is  not 
dead,  but  sleepeth. '  He  saw  not  the  sunrise  of  the  last  morning  of  his 
stay  on  earth,  but  he  went  into  the  perpetual  sunrise  of  the  Paradise  of 
God. ' ' 

Alexander  C.  Hart 
1836-1903 

Alexander  C.  Hart  was  a  native  of  Greene  County.  His  home 
was  near  Maple  Cypress  when  he  died.  The  following  is  from 
a  sketch  by  J.  R.  Tingle  in  1903  :4 

He  united  with  the  Christian  church  when  only  thirteen  years  old  and 
lived  a  faithful  Christian  life  until  the  Lord  called  him  home.  He  was 
married  to  Lucretia  Fussell  in  1850  and  leaves  a  widow  and  four  children 


316  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

to  mourn  their  loss.  He  was  buried  iu  the  cemetery  at  Butler  ?s  church 
(near  Vanceboro).  The  writer  preached  the  funeral  sermon  to  a  very 
large  and  sympathetic  congregation.  Bio.  Hart  was  one  of  our  most  con- 
secrated preachers  and  gave  over  half  a  century  to  the  service  of  his  Mas- 
ter, and  died  in  the  triumphs  of  the  gospel  faith. ' ' 

Peter  Edmund  Hines 
1812-1891 

Peter  Edmund  Hines  was  born  in  Edgecombe  County,  and 
died  in  Wilson.  He  was  for  seven  years  Mayor  of  the  town  of 
Wilson.  He  did  much  to  establish  the  Christian  church  in  that 
big  tobacco  town.  He  gave  the  lot  upon  which  the  Wilson 
Christian  church  was  built.  There  is  a  large  handsome  window 
in  the  Wilson  church  in  his  memory. 

He  was  of  a  stalwart  firmness  in  keeping  clean  the  ministry 
of  the  Disciples.  He  helped  his  peers  of  the  day  to  establish 
conservative  traditions  in  safeguarding  the  Disciple  ministry  in 
the  State.    He  presided  at  four  State  Conventions. 

His  old  home  on  Goldsboro  Street  in  Wilson,  long  a  land- 
mark, was  torn  down  to  make  way  for  a  modern  apartment 
house. 

Notes 

1Mrs.  E.  N.  Harris,  Rosemary,  N.  C,  daughter  of  Henry  Smith,  Gur- 
g-anus  related  this  episode  to  the  author.  2Minutes,  1878.  3Miss  Gertrude 
Fribergr,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  for  Mrs.  Dr.  I.  F.  Hicks  and  Mrs.  McD.  Holllday 
of  Dunn,   N.   C.     ''Minutes,   1903. 


Chapter  XXXIV 

MEMOIRS  OF  PAST  LEADERS  (CONTINUED) 

William  Heath 

1816-1867 

William  Heath  was  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  Heath, 
and  a  native  of  Jones  Count}7.  The  following  was  taken  from  a 
sketch  of  him  by  Isaac  Brown,  a  layman,  written  in  1870  :x 

His  parents  had  but  little  of  this  world's  goods;  and  he  was  raised 
to  a  life  of  toil  and  hardship,  having  obtained  but  a  limited  education. 

He  was  married  to  Mary  Spencer,  1837;  and  became  obedient  to  the 
Faith  the  loth  of  July,  1842 ;  and  united  with  the  Congregation  of  Dis- 
ciples at  Pleasant  Hill,  Jones  County,  then  under  the  pastorate  of  the 
much  beloved  (but  since  deceased)  Elder  Robert  Bond. 

He  commenced  preaching,  1845,  in  his  immediate  neighborhood,  and 
extended  his  labors  as  opportunity  offered.  He  was  quite  poor  in  this 
world's  goods — with  an  increasing  family  dependent  on  his  individual  labors 
for  their  support. 

At  that  time  it  was  too  often  thought,  that  a  "free  salvation"  im- 
plied that  preaching  should  be  free  of  charge  also.  And  it  is  even  now  to 
be  feared,  that  too  few  of  us  remember  the  Lord  has  ordained  that  they 
who  preach  the  Gospel  should  live  of  the  Gospel. 

He  often  accompanied  the  late  beloved  Elder  John  Jarman,  and  as- 
sisted him  in  preaching  and  building  up  churches.  And  later,  the  pastorates 
at  Tuckahoe,  Jenkin's  Chapel,  Brown's  School  house,  Shady  Grove,  and  a 
few  others,  were  almost  entirely  dependent  on  him. 

Who  but  the  All-Seeing  Eye  can  tell  of  the  anguish  and  conflicting 
emotions  that  he  experienced  between  his  duty  to  his  God,  and  those 
loved  ones  at  home  whom  God  had  confided  to  his  care?  How  often  did 
he  believe  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  bear  the  burden  placed  upon 
him  unaided!     But  God,  in  whom  he  had  put  his  trust,  aided  him. 

He  has  left  us  a  noble  example  of  self-sacrificing  faith  and  trust,  that 
it  will  be  well  for  us  to  follow. 

Isaac  Pipkin  Holton 
1834-1907 
Isaac  Pipkin  Holton  was  a  native  of  Pamlico  County.     The 
following  is  from  a  sketch  of  him  by  George  T.  Tyson,  written 
in  1908.2 

He  was  baptized  July  4,  1855,  by  Gideon  Allen.  Ordained  to  the  min- 
istry in  1861  by  Wm.  Dunn,  Japtha  Holton,  and  J.  W.  Holton,  who  was 
his  brother  and  also  a  minister  of  the  Christian   Church. 

317 


318  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

In  1861,  Bro.  Holton  married  Rebecca  Robinson,  unto  whom  six  chil- 
dren were  born,  all  of  whom  are  living,  except  the  oldest,  who  died  eleven 
months  before  his  father. 

Bro.  Holton  was  deprived  of  school  advantages,  but  he  was  endowed 
with  more  than  average  natural  ability,  loved  literature  and  read  much. 
He  was  familiar  with  the  Bible  from  the  beginning  of  Genesis  to  the  end 
of  Revelation.  He  read  many  books  and  was  especially  fond  of  poetry. 
A  day  or  two  before  his  death,  prostrate  on  his  bed,  he  repeated  and  sang 
one  or  two  hymns  and  preached  a  short  sermon,  using  for  his  text,  "If  a 
man  die,  shall  he  live  again?"  Bro.  Isaac  did  not  give  his  full  time  to 
the  ministry,  however  he  did  a  great  deal  of  preaching  and  singing  (he 
was  a  singing  master)  until  the  latter  years  of  his  life.  Two  years 
before  his  death  he  had  the  care  of  a  church.  He  was  called  upon  to 
preach  a  great  many  funerals.  He  delivered  a  funeral  address  only  about 
a  year  before  his  death. 

Bro.  Holton  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  energetic  of  men;  a  good 
conversationalist;   and  his  home  "given  to  hospitality." 

Jesse  Walker  Pipkin  Holton 

1826-1904 

Jesse  Walker  Pipkin  Holton  was  a  native  of  Pamlico  Comity. 
The  following  was  taken  from  a  sketch  of  him  by  George  T. 
Tyson,  written  in  1904.3 

He  married  Barbara  E.  Bennett  January  19,  1854,  with  whom  he  had 
lived  fifty  years  the  19th  of  January  last  at  which  time  they  celebrated 
their  golden  wedding  with  a  large  gathering  of  relatives  and  friends. 

He  was  bom  in  a  humble  but  Christian  home.  Deprived  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  education,  however,  he  learned  to  read  and  write. 

He  confessed  his  Saviour  the  first  Lord's  Day  in  July,  1849,  and  was 
baptized  by  Elder  Henry  Smith.  Preached  his  first  sermon  first  Lord's  day 
in  February,  1858,  at  his  home  church.  Set  apart  to  the  ministry  second 
Lord's  Day  in  August,  1858,  J.  B.  Respess  conducting  the  rite,  thus  serving 
in  the  ministry  forty-six  years,  almost  or  quite  to  a  day.  His  last  sermon 
was  a  funeral  discourse,  about  a  month  before  his  death. 

Uncle  Jesse  was  familiar  with  the  Bible.  He  told  me  he  had  read  the 
New  Testament  through  as  many  times  as  the  number  of  years  he  had 
been  engaged  in  the  ministry. 

Through  rain  and  sunshine,  through  summer 's  heat  and  winter  'a  cold 
he  has  gone  for  forty-six  years,  more  than  four-fifths  of  this  time  on  foot. 
For  thirty-eight  of  those  years  he  had  no  team.  His  longest  pastorate 
was  at  Bay  Creek  Church,  for  which  he  preached  eighteen  years,  and 
never  missed  a  visit.  There  was  not  a  year  during  his  ministerial  life  but 
that  he  had  the  care  of  one  or  more  churches.  He  was  a  good  preacher; 
but,  perhaps,  his  strongest  characteristic  was  his  daily  walk,  modest  in 
manners,  and  chaste  in  conversation.     For  forty-six  years  he  has  preached, 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST   LEADERS  319 

in  church,  in  school-house,  in  barns,  and  in  homes ;  of  righteousness,  tem- 
perance and  the  judgment  to  come,  calling  people  to  repentance.  His  life 
was  an  exemplification  of  the  gospel  which  he  preached.  His  Christian 
life  was  faithful  to  the  end,  his  faith  unwavering  from  his  baptism  to 
death.  And  for  all  of  this  his  compensation  fell  far  behind  in  affording 
sustenance.  He  told  me  just  a  short  while  before  his  death  that  he 
"preached  the  gospel  for  the  love  of  the  gospel."  Not  in  state,  but  in 
church,  his  counsel  was  often  sought. 

John  Jarman 

1816-1850 

The  following  was  taken  from  a  sketch  of  him  by  John  H. 
Dillahunt.4 

Elder  John  Jarman,  the  son  of  Emanuel  and  Sarah  Jarman,  was  born 
on  Tuckahoe,  in  Jones  County,  where  he  was  reared  and  educated.  In 
early  life  he  was  noted  for  his  moral  and  philanthropic  conduct  and  sym- 
pathetic feelings.  Before  his  profession  of  the  Christian  Religion,  he 
was  respected  and  esteemed  by  his  acquaintances. 

On  July  16,  1S43,  he  made  the  good  confession  of  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  put  Him  on  by  being  buried  with  him  in  baptism. 
Shortly  after  his  conversion  our  worthy  brother  commenced  proclaiming  the 
Gospel  to  a  lost  and  ruined  world;  and  many  were  roused  from  their 
lethargy  and  carnal  security  by  his  preaching,  and  induced  to  obey  the  Gos- 
pel. The  loss  of  Elder  Jarman  is  an  irreparable  loss  to  the  community 
where  he  resided.  He  sank  down  in  the  service  of  his  divine  Redeemer. 
For  when  he  was  taken  sick  he  had  been  engaged,  several  days,  in  a  pro- 
tracted meeting,  in  which  many  were  induced  to  make  the  good  confession. 
His  only  desire  seemed  to  be  the  benefit  of  his  fellow  creatures.  While 
confined  during  his  last  illness,  his  aged  mother,  approaching  his  bedside, 
remarked  to  him :  ' '  That  if  the  Lord  should  raise  him  up  again,  it  would 
not  do  for  him  to  expose  himself  as  much  as  he  had  done,  toiling  and 
preaching;  as  his  constitution  was  weak;  he  could  never  stand  it."  His 
answer  was,  "If  I  cannot  preach  I  desire  to  die. ' '  When  lying  as  it 
were  on  the  boundary  that  divides  time  from  eternity,  he  declared  he  had  no 
other  feelings  than  those  of  love  for  all  mankind. 

In  a  letter  to  Alexander  Campbell,  September  23,  1850,  Dilla- 
hunt said:5 

Bro.  Jarman  accompanied  me  to  Bethany  last  winter,  for  the  express 
purpose  of  making  your  accmaintance  and  hearing  you  preach ;  but,  to  his 
great  disappointment,  as  well  as  mine,  we  were  deprived  of  the  happiness 
of  seeing  you,  you  being  at  that  time  on  a  tour  to  Kentucky.  *  *  * 
Under  his  (Jarman 's)  hospitable  roof  the  weary  pilgrim  and  traveler  al- 
ways found  a  heart)'  welcome.  He  was  kind  and  benevolent  to  all.  By 
his  death  a  vacuum  has  been  made  which  time  alone  can  fill. 


320  north  carolina  disciples  of  christ 

Milton  Frost  Jarvis 
1851-1877 

Milton  Frost  Jarvis  was  born  in  Washington,  North  Carolina. 
His  parents  soon  afterward  removed  to  Pant  ego.  He  was  bap- 
tized July  1,  1872,  by  John  R.  Winfield.  This  "gave  much  joy 
to  the  Disciples  at  Concord."  He  was  ordained  to  the  ministry 
at  Pant  ego  by  John  R.  Winfield  and  Augustus  Latham,  Jr.,  Oc- 
tober 23,  1873.    Josephus  Latham  said  in  a  sketch  of  him  :6 

He  was  not  what  we  would  call  an  educated  man,  by  any  means;  but, 
with  a  bright  mind,  quick  to  grasp  a  truth,  combined  with  a  noble  heart — 
kind,  humble  and  zealous,  as  he  was,  his  influence  was  great,  and  a  life  of 
usefulness  seemed  spread  out  before  him;  but,  like  many  others  of  us,  he 
had  to  follow  other  occupations  to  make  a  livelihood,  and  having  chosen 
merchandizing,  while  on  his  way  North,  to  buy  goods,  he  took  a  very 
deep  cold,  which  finally  resulted  in  that  dread  disease,  consumption;  his 
body,  naturally  frail  was  unable  to  stand  the  wasting  influence  of  the 
scourge.  He  was  tall  and  slender,  with  a  calm  and  sweet  expression  of 
countenance,  and  was  what  might  have  been  called  a  handsome  man,  and 
really  made  a  fine  appearance  in  the  pulpit,  which  he  often  filled  with 
great  acceptation,  even  after  he  was  far  advanced  in  the  disease,  which  was 
so  surely  bearing  him  to  the  grave.  His  last  sermon  was  delivered  at 
Pantego,  in  which  he  seemed  to  throw  much  of  the  zeal  and  fire  of  days 
gone  by,  and  the  effort  was  crowned  with  success,  in  bringing  one  soul  at 
least  to  Christ.  Yet  it  was  too  much  for  his  enfeebled  and  worn-out  lungs, 
and  emaciated  body  and  he  was  never  able  to  preach  again.  "While  many 
mourned  with  hearts  stricken  with  sorrow  at  the  untimely  death  of  one  so 
gifted,  there  was  another  whose  young  heart  was  torn  more  sadly  than 
any — it  was  his  betrothed — she,  young,  handsome  and  lovely,  had  looked 
forward  to  many  long  and  happy  years  with  the  beloved  Milton;  but  all 
these  hopes  have  been  blasted  by  the  chilling  hand  of  death. 

Irvin  Jones 

1816-1887 

Irvin  Jones  was  a  native  of  Greene  County.  A  memorial 
tablet  has  been  placed  for  him  in  the  Hookerton  Church.  The 
following  was  taken  from  a  sketch  of  him  by  J.  L.  Winfield.7 

I  call  to  mind  today,  the  time  I  first  saw  this  faithful  man  of  God,  and 
this  truly  consecrated  servant  of  the  Master.  It  was  in  the  fall  of  1866 
during  the  Grand  Council  of  the  Union  Baptist  Church,  at  Blount's 
Creek,  Beaufort  Caunty.  Elder  Jones  was  at  that  time  a  member  and 
minister  of  the  Union  Baptist  denomination,  which  denomination  is  known, 


Henry  Cleophas  Bowen,  1858-1915 


Harvey  Swain  Davenport.  1837-1921 


MEMOIRS   OF   PAST   LEADERS  321 

as  being  the  result  of  the  effort  of  Rev.  J.  W.  Hunnicutt,  of  Virginia,  to 
unite  all  the  wings  of  the  open  communion  Baptists  in  one  grand,  aggres- 
sive body,  under  the  name  and  style  of  the  Union  Baptist  church.  Bro. 
Jones  impressed  me,  at  that  council  as  a  man  of  strong  faith,  fervent  de- 
votion and  the  most  marked  piety.  Though  I  was  only  in  my  fourteenth 
year,  his  plain,  simple  and  tender  preaching  had  a  most  wholesome  ef- 
fect upon  me,  which  was  strengthened  and  confirmed  by  subsequent  as- 
sociation and  more  intimate  relationship. 

Four  years  after,  Bro.  Jones  was  appointed  an  itinerant  minister,  and 
he  traveled  extensively  in  all  the  Eastern  counties,  and  was  eminently 
successful  in  widening  the  borders  of  that  denomination.  It  was  my 
pleasure  to  accompany  Bro.  Jones  on  several  of  his  evangelical  tours.  It 
is  needless  to  say,  that  I  was  not  only  profited  but  highly  benefited  by  his 
humble,  Christ-like  walk,  his  love  for  the  Gospel,  and  his  loyalty  to  the  great 
Head  of  the  church.  He  made  no  pretension  to  learning.  He  possessed 
only  a  limited  education;  which  had,  however,  been  augmented  by  faithful 
and  diligent  devotion  to  the  study  of  good  and  useful  books.  He  was  a 
preacher  for  the  common  people,  who  always  heard  him  gladly.  He  was 
very  popular  in  Beaufort  and  Craven  counties,  where  he  was  instrumental 
in  establishing  and  edifying  several  congregations. 

When  the  last  Grand  Council  met  in  Carteret  County  in  the  Fall  of 
1870,  Bro.  Irvin  Jones  was  the  first  to  come  out  from  under  the  dominion  of 
human  law,  and  take  his  stand  with  those  who  were  building  on  the  "one 
foundation ' '.  From  that  day  to  the  day  he  laid  his  armor  by,  he  main- 
tained his  faith  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 


James  Benjamin  Jones 
1846-1911 

James  Benjamin  Jones  was  a  native  of  Forsythe  County.8 
His  ancestral  home  is  near  Bethania.  He  was  of  Welsh, 
Huguenot  and  German  descent.  His  father,  Dr.  Beverly  Jones 
was  a  graduate  of  Jefferson  Medical  College,  Philadelphia.  His 
mother  Mrs.  Julia  Conrad  Jones  descended  from  original  settlers 
of  the  Wachovia  Tract  in  North  Carolina.  She  was  bred  in  the 
Moravian  faith. 

J.  B.  Jones  was  a  student  at  Nazareth  Hall,  Pennsylvania,  a 
Moravian  school  for  boys,  when  John  Brown  raided  Harper's 
Ferry.  He  came  home,  spent  three  years  on  the  farm,  then  en- 
listed as  a  soldier  in  the  Confederacy.  After  the  war  he  worked 
as  a  clerk  in  Louisville,  Kentucky.  He  entered  the  College  of 
the  Bible,  Lexington,  Kentucky,  January  4,  1867,  where  he 
graduated  in  1871.     In  1873  he  received  the  A.B.  degree  from 


322  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Kentucky  University;  later  an  honorary  A.M.  from  the  same 
institution. 

He  ministered  at  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  and  at  Newport,  Car- 
lisle, and  Georgetown,  Kentucky.  He  taught  in  the  Christian 
College  at  Columbia,  Kentucky.  His  health  declined,  and  he 
had  a  long  struggle  to  regain  strength.  He  was  at  Cedar  Keys, 
Florida,  two  years,  where  he  cultivated  an  orange  grove.  Later 
he  went  to  California  where  he  gave  two  and  a  half  years  to  the 
ministry  of  the  Temple  Street  Church,  Los  Angeles. 

In  1874  he  married  Miss  Mollie  Rogers,  daughter  of  the  pio- 
neer preacher,  John  Rogers,  of  Carlisle,  Kentucky.  For  three 
years  he  was  State  Missionary  Secretary  of  Kentucky.  Later 
he  gave  a  second  term  of  one  year  to  that  service.  Meanwhile 
he  was  minister  at  Columbia,  Missouri. 

He  taught  Bible  and  Philosophy  in  Hamilton  College,  Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky,  for  five  years.  He  was  called  in  1896  as  Chan- 
cellor of  Kentucky  University,  which  he  declined,  that  he  might 
accept  the  Presidency  of  William  Woods  College,  Fulton,  Mis- 
souri, then  called  the  Orphan  School  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 
in  Missouri.  This  institution  was  in  a  desperate  financial  con- 
dition when  he  went  to  it.  By  a  wise,  efficient  administration 
covering  a  long  period,  he  saved  it,  and  made  it  one  of  the 
greatest  colleges  for  women  in  the  West.  His  personality  and 
leadership  was  perhaps  the  greatest  single  contribution  of  North 
Carolina  Disciples  to  missionary  and  educational  service  in  the 
middle  West. 

George  Joyner 

1823-1885 

George  Joyner  was  a  minister  for  thirty-two  years  of  North 
Carolina  Disciples  of  Christ.  His  parents  were  John  and  Clara 
May  Joyner.  He  was  born  near  Farmville,  October  16,  1823, 
and  died  in  his  old  home  community  September  17,  1885.  He 
"was  from  one  of  the  best  and  most  respectable  families  in 
Eastern  Carolina."  He  was  buried  in  the  rear  of  the  Farmville 
Christian  Church. 

He  united  with  the  church  of  Christ  at  old  Oak  Grove,  Greene 
County,  in  1850.  He  was  baptized  by  Josephus  Latham.  He 
began  preaching  in  1853,  having  been  trained  at  Wake  Forest 


MEMOIRS   OF    PAST    LEADERS  323 

College.  He  was  President  of  the  North  Carolina  Christian  Mis- 
sionary Convention  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

He  was  married  three  times.  First  to  Miss  Speight  of  Greene 
County;  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Beaman,  now  living  near  Stantonsburg, 
being  a  daughter  of  this  first  marriage.  His  second  wife  was 
Miss  Henrietta  Parrott,  daughter  of  Jacob  Parrott.  His  third 
wife  was  Miss  Blount  of  Washington,  who,  with  her  six  children, 
survived  him. 

Dr.  John  T.  Walsh,  who  conducted  burial  service  for  him,  said 
of  him:9  "As  a  Christian  and  gentleman,  Elder  Joyner  had  al- 
ways been  esteemed  for  his  moral  character  and  Christian  integ- 
rity. He  was  unassuming  and  retiring  in  his  manners,  always 
dignified,  but  easily  approached.  As  a  preacher  he  was  above 
the  average.  He  uniformly  read  his  discourses,  and  they  were 
written  in  a  chaste  style,  and  adapted  to  the  most  cultured  audi- 
ence. He  was  more  than  an  average  elocutionist,  and  made  a 
fine  impression  on  all  who  heard  him." 

Augustus  Latham,  Jr. 

1847-1901 

The  following  was  taken  from  a  sketch  of  him  in  the  Wash- 
ington, North  Carolina,  Gazette  Messenger  of  March  18,  1901 : 

Rev.  Augustus  Latham  sprang  from  au  ancestry  that  has,  for  genera- 
tions, been  conspicuous  in  the  annals  of  Beaufort  county.  His  parents 
resided  near  Leechville,  where  he  was  born.  Having  received  pious  training 
he  in  early  manhood  developed  a  religious  character,  became  a  member  of 
the  Christian  Church  and  subsequently  one  of  its  ministers.  He  has  served 
acceptably  several  churches  in  this  and  adjoining  counties  as  pastor,  and 
on  two  occasions  at  least,  has  been  temporary  pastor  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  this  city.  About  the  year  1865  he  was  happily  married  to  Mar- 
garet, the  daughter  of  Mr.  Samuel  Windley,  who  still  survives  him.  Mr. 
Windley  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  the  county  has  ever  produced. 
For  years  he  was  the  chairman  of  the  board  of  magistrates  and  presided 
over  the  old  county  court,  and  we  think,  was  one  of  the  justices  of  the 
inferior  court,  organized  after  the  war. 

The  longer  one  knew  Mr.  Latham,  the  more  he  was  loved  and  respected. 
He  despised  hypocrisy  and  his  life  was  an  open  book  that  could  be  read  by 
all  men.  If  he  had  a  fault  it  was  the  candor  with  which  he  expressed  his 
own  opinions.  No  one  could  be  mistaken  as  to  what  his  opinion  was  on 
any  subject,  for  he  never  failed  to  express  it  and  to  defend  it  with  the 


324  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

best  of  his  ability.  He  was  a  writer  of  considerable  merit,  and  the  unique 
way  he  expressed  his  thought,  the  dry  sarcasm  running  through  nearly  all 
he  wrote,  attracted  the  attention  of  the  reader. 

J.  J.  Harper  said  of  him:10  "He  was  a  vigorous  writer  and  a 
strong  preacher,  a  plain,  outspoken  and  godly  man.  His  style 
was  unique,  out  of  the  ordinary  and  always  interesting." 

Notes 

VMinutes,  1870.  ^Carolina  Evangel,  Sept.  10,  190S,  page  5.  HVatch  Tower, 
Oct  7,  1904.  4Minutes,  1852.  Millennial  Harbinger,  1850,  page  659.  6Minutes, 
1878.  7Ibid.,  1887.  8"Churches  of  Christ,"  by  John  T.  Brown,  page  497. 
'■Minutes,  1885,  page  14.     10"Churches  of  Christ,"  by  John  T.  Brown,  page  269. 


Chapter  XXXV 
MEMOIRS  OF  PAST  LEADERS  (CONTINUED) 

Josephus  Latham 

1828-1889 

Josephus  Latham  was  the  son  of  Thomas  J.  and  Nancy  Cordon 
Latham.  He  was  born  at  Pantego,  North  Carolina.  He  was 
baptized  June  4th,  1843,  by  his  father  at  Jordan's  Point.  He 
preached  his  first  sermon  at  Pungo  Chapel,  August  27th,  1848. 
He  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  by  John  P.  Dunn  and  Ben- 
jamin Parrott,  April  1st,  1849.  He  married  Miss  Martha  F. 
Brown,  of  Pitt  County,  North  Carolina,  May  31,  1854.  He  min- 
istered for  more  than  forty  years  in  his  native  State,  mainly  in 
the  counties  of  Hyde,  Beaufort,  Pitt,  Greene,  and  Wayne.  He 
baptized  more  than  two  thousand  persons,  and  officiated  at  about 
five  hundred  marriages.  He  served  as  Superintendent  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction  for  Pitt  County  from  1882  to  1889.  It  was  said 
that  "he  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  rural  evangelistic  work  and 
nothing  gave  him  greater  satisfaction";  that  "his  sermons  were 
strong  in  their  fullness  of  Scriptural  truths,  and  the  directness 
with  which  they  were  presented,"  and  "they  were  delivered 
with  a  radiance  and  fervency  of  spirit  that  kindled  to  a  respon- 
sive glow  the  hearts  of  his  hearers." 

John  J.  Harper  said  of  him:1  "Eternity  alone  will  disclose 
the  magnitude  of  his  great  work  in  North  Carolina." 

He  was  unselfish  and  sympathetic.  Harper  testified:2  'I 
knew  him  one  cold  rainy  day  during  the  war  to  take  off  his  shoes 
on  the  road  and  give  them  to  a  barefooted  soldier  whom  he  met." 

Harper  further  said  of  him :  ' '  His  pulpit  efforts  were  largely 
directed  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Gospel."  It  is 
related  that  his  favorite  sermon  topic  was  "The  Conversion  of 
the  Ethiopian  Treasurer."  While  his  daughter,  Miss  Nannie, 
attended  Hamilton  College,  Lexington,  Kentucky,  he  visited 
there.  He  was  invited  to  preach  in  the  most  prominent  Disciple 
pulpit  in  Lexington.  Upon  his  return  a  friend  "down  home" 
asked  him,  "What  was  your  subject?"  He  said,  "Philip  and 
the  Eunuch."3 

325 


326  north  carolina  disciples  of  christ 

Thomas  Jordan  Latham 
1797-1862 

A  distinguished  leader  of  the  early  Disciples  of  Christ  in 
North  Carolina,  was  Thomas  Jordan  Latham.  He  was  born  at 
Pantego.  He  was  a  son  of  Daniel  and  Elizabeth  Latham.  He 
attended  school  in  Kobeson  County,  North  Carolina,  where  he 
was  a  schoolmate  of  Judge  Manly.  He  also  attended  other 
schools  of  merit  and  was  for  a  number  of  years  considered  the 
best  educated  minister  among  North  Carolina  Disciples.  His 
life  was  given  to  teaching,  preaching  and  the  civil  service.  On 
Feb.  4,  1821,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Nancy  Cordon.  His  first 
wife  having  died,  he  married  Miss  Ann  E.  Everett  of  Martin 
County,  January  13,  1839.  About  1825  he  was  baptized  by 
Henry  Smith,  of  the  Bethel  Conference  of  North  Carolina,  and 
shortly  began  to  preach  at  Concord  Church  near  Pantego.  He 
entertained  Thomas  Campbell  in  his  home  at  Pantego,  April, 
1834,  and  so  imbibed  the  spirit  and  principles  of  the  "Restora- 
tion Movement"  promoted  by  the  Campbells,  that  seven  years 
later,  1841,  he  promoted  the  discussion  by  his  famous  circular 
letter  emphasizing  Christian  union  and  repudiating  all  human 
creeds,  which  culminated  in  the  union  of  the  Bethel  Conference 
of  North  Carolina,  on  May  2,  1845,  at  Hookerton,  with  the  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ.  This  Bethel  Conference  constituted  very 
largely  the  basis  for  the  future  expansion  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  in  this  State.  He  was  Clerk  and  Master  of  Equity  for 
Hyde  County,  before  change  of  county  boundaries  put  Pantego 
in  Beaufort  County.  He  was  Postmaster  at  Pantego,  later 
at  Washington  in  1853,  and  in  1855,  upon  urgent  solicitation  of 
friends  was  a  candidate  for  the  Federal  Congress,  but  was  de- 
feated. He  was  one  of  the  best  informed  and  most  influential 
men  of  his  county.  Of  his  17  children  only  4  survived  him, 
among  whom  was  a  son,  Josephus  Latham,  who  became  a  promi- 
nent minister  of  the  Disciples  in  North  Carolina. 

Dr.  John  T.  Walsh  said  of  him  :4 

He  was  a  pure,  unselfish  man!  In  proof  of  this,  it  is  well-known  that 
by  his  large  benevolence  and  confiding  disposition,  he  lost  a  large  part  of 
his  estate.  It  was  the  pleasure  of  his  life  to  do  good  to  others  and  often 
too  without  hoping  for  anything  in  return.     As  a  preacher  he  was  not  elo- 


MEMOIRS   OF    PAST   LEADERS  327 

quent  but  logical.  He  sought  to  carry  the  heart  by  informing,  enlighten- 
ing, and  convincing  the  judgment,  rather  than  by  direct  appeals  to  the 
feelings  and  passions.  His  manner  was  humble  and  his  voice  soft  and 
impressive. 

John  A.  Leggett 

1801-1868 

John  A.  Leggett  was  a  native  of  Beaufort  County.  He  was  a 
son  of  Jeremiah  Leggett.  Moses  Tyson  Moye  said  in  a  sketch 
of  him:5 

At  the  age  of  about  twenty-five,  he  became  obedient  to  the  Faith,  and 
attached  himself  to  the  congregation,  worshiping  at  Old  Ford,  Beaufort 
County,  then  under  the  pastorate  of  his  father  and  belonging  to  the  Kehu- 
kee  Association. 

On  the  2nd  Lord's  day  in  June,  1829,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Elizabeth  Swain,  of  Martin  County. 

In  June,  1833,  the  Church  at  Old  Ford  granted  to  him  license  "to  exer- 
cise his  gift  in  preaching,"  and  on  the  2nd  Lord's  day  in  June,  1835,  he 
was  regularly  ordained  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel  by  Elders  Jeremiah  and 
Daniel  Leggett. 

After  the  death  of  his  father,  which  occurred  shortly  afterwards,  he 
was  called  to  preach  to  this  congregation  and  "understanding  the  way  of 
the  Lord  more  perfectly, ' '  through  his  influence,  this  Church  severed  her 
connection  with  the  Kehukee  Association  and  attached  herself  to  the  Con- 
ference of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  of  North  Carolina. 

For  a  period  of  more  than  thirty  years,  he  preached  regularly  and  ac- 
ceptably to  the  congregations,  worshiping  at  Old  Ford  and  Tranters  Creek. 

In  the  year  A.D.,  1843,  Elder  Leggett  studied  the  Thompsonian  System 
of  Medicine;  and  in  a  few  years,  he  commanded  a  large  practice  and  be- 
came eminently  a  successful  practitioner.  A  large  percentage  of  his  prac- 
tice was   given   gratuitously   and   unmurmuringly   to   the  poor. 

Few  men  in  his  sphere  have  been  more  useful,  labored  more  faithfully, 
or  been  more  charitable  to  the  poor,  than  Dr.  Leggett.  Those  who  knew 
him  best,  loved  him  most;  and  the  best  commentary  on  his  life  is,  that  his 
neighbors  loved  him  as  a  father,  and  looked  up  to  him  as  their  Spiritual 
guide. 

A.  F.  Leighton 

1854-1925 

A.  F.  Leighton  was  for  many  years  a  minister  and  teacher 
among  North  Carolina  Disciples  of  Christ.  He  married  Miss 
Draughan,  of  old  Bethany  Church  in  Edgecombe  County,  who 
survived  him.     He  graduated  from  Johnson's  Bible  College  in 


328  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

1899,  and  the  same  year  was  ordained  to  the  ministry.  He 
attended  Atlantic  Christian  College  in  1904- '05,  and  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  ten  summers,  and  taught  in  North 
Carolina  high  schools  for  18  years.  Some  of  his  ministries  were : 
the  Mill  Creek  group,  1899-1903;  Tuckahoe  group,  1904- '05; 
and  Farmville,  1906.  He  also  taught  and  preached  at  Maccles- 
field, where  he  was  held  in  high  esteem.  He  was  buried  at 
Bethany  Church  in  Edgecombe  County. 

James  Rodgers  Lewis 

1792-1862 

The  following  was  taken  from  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  James 
Rodgers  Lewis  by  John  J.  Harper  :6 

Elder  James  Rodgers  Lewis,  sou  of  Kedar  and  Mary  Lewis,  was  born 
at  the  dwelling  place  of  his  parents,  on  Contentnea  Creek,  in  Greene  County, 
North  Carolina,  September  16th,  1792.  In  early  life,  though  his  literary 
education  was  neglected,  good  impressions,  which  are  seldom  lost,  were  early 
made  on  his  youthful  mind,  and  pious  examples  set  before  him  by  his  kind 
mother,  from  whom  he  learned  that  to  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  heaven  and 
earth  he  was  accountable  for  every  word,  thought  and  deed,  and  being  of  a 
serious  and  thinking  disposition,  he  desired  immediately  to  prepare  for  the 
welfare  of  his  soul.  He  united  with  the  Methodists  while  a  youth.  He 
remained  here,  however,  only  a  short  time,  when  he  left  and  joined  the 
Free  Will  Baptists,  where  he  continued  until  1841,  at  which  time,  being 
persuaded  with  many  others,  from  a  prayerful  search  of  the  Scriptures, 
that  the  Bible  and  the  Bible  alone,  was  the  only  unerring  guide  to  fallible 
mortals,  he  renounced  all  human  creeds  and  "confessions  of  faith,"  and 
joined  with  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  where  he  lived  a  devoted  Christian 
until  the  day  of  his  death. 

Brother  Lewis  was  immersed  into  Christ  by  Elder  William  McKnab.  He 
was  ordained  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel  in  1832,  and  lived  so  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  Owing  to  his  want  of  self-confidence,  feeling  his  incompetency, 
knowing  well  the  indispensable  necessity  of  advancing  the  whole  truth,  and 
that  alone,  and  feeling  the  awful  responsibility  of  those,  who  attempt  to 
point  out  the  way  of  life  to  dying  mortals,  he  did  not  often  presume,  pub- 
licly to  proclaim  the  Gospel.  But  around  the  fireside  he  was  eager  to  ex- 
change ideas,  to  receive  information,  and  to  dispense  comfort  and  knowl- 
edge, as  far  as  was  in  his  power,  to  all  around  him.  Christ,  His  work,  His 
sufferings,  death,  burial,  resurrection,  ascension,  glorification,  and  the  plan 
of  salvation  constituted  a  theme,  upon  which  it  was  his  delight  to  dwell. 
He  was  anxious  to  see  the  cause  of  his  Master  flourish  and  surmount  all 
opposition,  and  consequently  was  ever  ready  and  willing  to  contribute  to  its 
support. 


MEMOIRS   OF    PAST    LEADERS  329 

In  1814,  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Artesia  King,  in  Sampson  County, 
where  he  settled  and  reared  three  children,  all  of  whom  are  now  living. 

His  wife  died  in  1853,  and  he  was  left  to  endure  the  affliction  of  old 
age,  alone. 

The  wearied,  hungry  Minister  of  the  Gospel  ever  found  a  welcome  recep- 
tion, and  a  pressing  invitation  to  tarry  at  the  house,  and  share  the  kind 
hospitality  of  Elder  Lewis. 

Asa  J.  Manning 

1869-1927 

Asa  J.  Manning  was  a  native  of  Martin  Comity.  He  was  a 
leading  educator  and  minister  among  Eastern  North  Carolina 
Disciples  of  Christ.  For  five  years  he  was  President  of  Carolina 
Christian  College,  at  Ayden.  He  held  long  ministries  at  the 
churches  of  Maple  Grove,  Macedonia,  and  Williamston.  The 
following  is  from  the  Ealeigh,  North  Carolina,  News  and  Ob- 
server: 

Asa  J.  Manning  died  at  Williamston  early  Sunday  morning,  July  10, 
1927,  following  an  attack  of  apoplexy  which  lasted  only  a  few  hours. 

He  was  in  his  58th  year.  Born  near  Jamesville,  December  9,  1869,  he 
received  the  advantages  of  the  small  country  schools  of  his  day  and  had 
the  advantages  of  a  year  in  a  village  school.  He  attended  the  Vine  Hill 
Male  Academy  at  Scotland  Neck  and  spent  a  year  in  the  Shenandoah 
Normal  College  in  Reliance,  Virginia. 

He  began  teaching  in  Martin  County  in  early  life  and  taught  in  Martin, 
Beaufort  and  Fitt  Counties  for  about  15  years,  later  serving  as  superin- 
tendent of  schools  of  Martin  County  for  nine  years  until  ill  health  pre- 
vented his  active  service  about  four  years  ago.  He  was  ordained  to  the 
ministry  20  years  ago,  since  which  time  he  held  the  pastorate  of  several 
churches,  one  for  the  term  of  14  years,  another  16  years  and  a  third  for 
12  years. 

Although  he  worked  six  days  in  the  week  in  the  schools,  he  seldom  failed 
to  fill  the  pulpit  every  Sunday  not  for  the  pay  but  for  the  love  of  service. 
In  much  of  his  service  he  contributed  more  than  he  received. 

He  married  Miss  Blanche  Hodges,  of  Beaufort  County,  January,  1900. 
She  survives  him  with  five  sons,  James  C.  of  Eureka ;  Robert,  Hemy  S., 
A.  J.,  Jr.,  and  Charles,  all  of  Williamston,  and  two  daughters,  Ruth  and 
Grace,  also  two  brothers,  W.  C.  Manning,  editor  of  the  Williamston  Enter- 
prise, and  J.  E.  Manning  of  Jamesville.  The  funeral  was  held  Monday 
afternoon  at  the  Christian  Church,  by  Rev.  Richard  Bagby,  of  Washington, 
assisted  by  all  the  ministers  of  Williamston.  The  tributes  paid  the  deceased 
by  Elder  Sylvester  Hassell  of  the  Primitive  Baptist  Church  and  Revs.  T. 
W.  Lee  of  the  Methodist  Church,  C.  H.  Dickey  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and 
C.  O.  Pardo  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  also  R.  L.  Shirley,  formerly  of  Wil- 


330  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

liamston  but  now  of  Selma  Baptist  Church  showed  the  high  esteem  in  which 
he  was  held  by  his  associates.  The  attendance  was  said  to  be  the  largest 
ever  seen  at  a  funeral  in  the  town.  The  rich  and  the  poor  from  everywhere 
gathered  to  pay  their  last  respects.  It  is  said  of  him  that  he  has  buried 
and  married  more  people  than  any  man  in  the  county.  He  never  complained 
at  hardships  and  disappointments  but  always  brightened  the  path,  no  mat- 
ter how  dark,  by  the  lamp  of  faith. 


David  H.  Miller 

1810-1885 

David  H.  Miller  was  born  in  New  Bern  and  died  in  Goldsboro. 
John  J.  Harper  said  in  a  sketch  of  him:7 

His  religious  career  commenced  about  the  date  of  1838,  when,  if  we  mis- 
take not,  he  connected  himself  with  the  Free  Will  Baptists,  among  whom, 
three  years  later,  in  1841,  he  commenced  preaching.  He  remained  with  the 
Baptists  a  few  years,  laboring  for  a  living  at  some  secular  calling,  and 
preaching  as  opportunity  offered,  until  becoming  dissatisfied  with  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Baptists,  he  severed  his  connection  with  them  and  united  with 
the  Disciples  of  Christ,  a  name  by  which  he  was  not  ashamed  to  be  known, 
to  the  day  of  his  death. 

Bro.  Miller  was  not  an  educated  man,  and  I  do  not  know  that  he  pos- 
sessed extraordinary  natural  endowments,  but  was  a  plain,  unpretentious 
man,  of  strong  faith,  and  great  fervency  of  spirit,  and  in  preaching,  always 
seemed  to  feel  what  he  said.  The  writer  when  a  small  boy  often  saw  him 
in  the  family  circle,  and  in  the  pulpit.  A  favorite  text  of  his,  was  this: 
' '  And  they  came  to  Jesus,  and  found  the  man,  out  of  whom  the  devils  were 
departed,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  clothed,  and  in  his  right  mind. ' ' — 
Luke  8:35.  He  was  a  poor  man,  in  earthly  estate,  with  a  family  dependent 
on  his  labor  for  support;  hence,  he  had  very  little  time  to  devote  to  books 
and  the  preparation  of  subjects.  He  was  a  devoted  Christian,  and  a  patient 
and  submissive  sufferer,  and  resigned  to  the  will  of  his  Master. 


Alfred  Move 
1793-1863 

Alfred  Moye  was  a  pioneer  layman  of  North  Carolina  Dis- 
ciples, in  the  old  Oak  Grove  Church  in  Greene  County. 

He  lived  at  Lang's  Crossroads,  six  miles  east  of  Farmville. 
He  was  of  the  fourth  generation  of  the  Moyes  of  Pitt  County 
and  Eastern  Carolina.  He  was  the  son  of  Joel  Moye  and  Sarah 
Darden  Moye.  He  married  Orpah  Tyson,  daughter  of  Moses 
Tyson  of  his  native  county,  in  1818.     He  served  in  the  large 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST    LEADERS  331 

affairs  of  his  community ;  in  1831,  as  trustee  of  Contentnea  Acad- 
emy; in  1850  as  the  first  President  of  the  Raleigh  and  Green- 
ville Plank  Road;  in  1858,  chairman  of  county  superintendents 
and  examiner  of  teachers ;  for  many  years  chairman  of  the  old 
county  court,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  public  administrator,  and 
public  surveyor. 

George  Joyner  said  in  a  sketch  of  him  :5 

His  early  youth — indeed  his  whole  life — was  marked  by  ( '  diligence,  in- 
dustry and  a  proper  improvement  of  time. ' '  He  early  evidenced  an  unusual 
thirst  for  knowledge  and  seized  with  great  avidity  every  opportunity  to 
obtain  it.  The  acquisitions  of  his  mind  were  comparatively  easy  and  he 
soon  became  known  in  his  native  county  as  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary 
talents;  and,  as  a  mark  of  confidence  and  esteem,  he  was  chosen  a  repre- 
sentative to  the  lower  house  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  year  1828,  and 
again  in  1829.  In  the  year  1831  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Senate 
which  high  position  he  continued  to  occupy  with  honor  to  himself  and  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  his  friends,  until  the  year  1844  when,  he  voluntarily 
declined  a  re-election  and  retired  to  the  repose  of  private  life.  He  was 
very  fond  of  agricultural  pursuits,  and  in  the  calm  quiet  of  domestic  life 
sought  those  enjoyments  which  are  among  the  purest  the  world  affords. 

He  was  for  years  chairman  of  the  special  court  of  his  native  county, 
and  the  character  which  he  sustained  for  wisdom,  stability  and  judgment 
was  appreciated  by  the  whole  community,  who,  in  almost  all  matters  of 
importance  obtained  the  aid  of  his  counsel.  He  possessed  a  quick  and 
penetrating  mind,  and  at  the  same  time  he  was  distinguished  for  a  sound 
and  accurate  judgment.  A  scrupulous  justice  marked  his  dealings  with  all 
men,  and  he  exhibited  great  fidelity  in  all  his  engagements. 

Standing  upon  his  own  merits,  he  passed  through  a  succession  of  offices 
and  responsibilities  which  he  sustained  with  much  honor  to  himself,  and  the 
duties  of  which  he  discharged  not  only  with  satisfaction  to  his  fellow 
citizens,  but  the  highest  benefit  to  his  State  and  county. 

In  his  private  life  he  was  easy  and  graceful  in  his  manners;  in  his  con- 
versation affable,  and  entertaining.  He  was  a  man  of  great  integrity  and 
of  pure  and  patriotic  feelings.  He  delighted  when  necessary  to  sacrifice 
his  private  interest  for  the  public  good. 

He  was  remarkably  distinguished  for  a  degree  of  good  humor  and  vivac- 
ity; and  in  generosity  of  character  was  an  ornament  to  human  nature.  Few 
possessed  a  more  absolute  control  over  the  passions  of  the  heart,  and  few 
evinced,  in  a  greater  degree,  the  virtues  which  adorn  the  human  mind.  In 
all  the  relations  of  life,  whether  as  a  husband,  a  friend,  a  patriot,  or  the 
master  of  the  slave,  he  appeared  conscious  of  his  obligations  and  found  his 
pleasure  in  discharging  them. 

As  a  Christian  he  was  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
worshiping  at  Oak  Grove,  and  he  was  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
The  ridicule  of  the  licentious,  the  taunt  of  the  scoffer,  nor  the  example  of 
vice  in  power,  could  tempt  him  to  disguise  the  profession  nor  to   decline 


332  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

from  the  practice  of  its  virtues.  He  was,  however,  liberal  in  his  religious 
principles.  Sensible  as  became  a  philosopher  of  the  rights  of  private  judg- 
ment, and  of  the  differences  of  opinion  that  must  necessarily  arise  from 
the  variety  of  human  intellects,  he  was  candid  as  became  a  Christian  to 
those  who  differed  from  him,  where  he  observed  their  practices  marked  with 
virtue  and  piety. 

Elbert  A.  Moye 

1842-1914 

Elbert  A.  Moye  was  a  native  of  Pitt  County,  and  a  son  of 
Alfred  Moye.  He  was  a  farmer  and  manufacturer.  He  served 
through  the  War  Between  the  States,  as  Lieutenant  in  Company 
G-,  Eighth  Regiment.  He  represented  his  county  in  both  houses 
of  Legislature,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  1877 ;  in  the 
Senate,  1879.  He  was  Clerk  of  Superior  Court  from  1885  to 
1898.  He  was  an  active  layman  in  the  Greenville  Church  of 
Christ.  He  presided  at  five  State  Conventions  of  the  Disciples 
as  follows :  1890,  and  1903  to  1906  inclusive,  and  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent in  several  others.  He  was  devoted  to  the  Church  of  Christ. 
He  served  faithfully. 

Notes 

^'Churches  of  Christ,"  by  John  T.  Brown,  page  269.  2Minutes,  1<889,  page 
15.  incident  related  to  the  author  by  C.  W.  Howard.  "Minutes,  1864. 
6Ibid.,    1869.     "Ibid.,    1S64.      7Ibid.,    1887.      RIbid.,    1865. 


Chapter  XXXVI 

MEMOIRS  OF  PAST  LEADERS   (CONTINUED) 

Moses  Tyson  Moye 
1827-1900 

Moses  Tyson  Moye  was  born  and  reared  in  Pitt  County  and 
died  in  Wilson.  He  was  the  son  of  Alfred  and  Orpah  Tyson 
Moye,  and  the  brother  of  Elbert  A.  Moye. 

On  January  6,  1863,  at  Wilson,  North  Carolina,  he  was  united 
in  marriage  by  George  Joyner  to  Penelope  E.  Whitehead,  daugh- 
ter of  Howell  Grey  Whitehead  and  Elizabeth  Clark  Whitehead, 
of  Pitt  County.  They  had  six  children,  James  Wilton,  Alfred, 
Nellie,  Allie  Whitehead,  Susie  Whitehead,  and  Frances  Clark. 

Early  in  life  Moses  Tyson  Moye  evinced  a  thirst  for  knowledge 
and  his  father  gave  him  every  opportunity  of  obtaining  a  thor- 
ough education.  He  was  prepared  for  college  in  the  schools  of 
Pitt  County,  going  from  these  to  Wake  Forest  College,  North 
Carolina,  and  Bethany  College,  Virginia.  He  was  graduated 
from  Bethany  College,  July  4,  1858.  The  subjects  most  interest- 
ing to  him  were  Biblical  Literature  and  Ancient  Languages. 
He  continued  his  study  of  these  throughout  life.  He  was  or- 
dained to  the  ministry  on  October  9,  1870,  at  Oak  Grove  Church, 
in  Greene  County. 

He  filled  many  responsible  positions  and  held  state  offices  in 
the  church  throughout  his  ministry.  He  was  one  of  the  charter 
members  of  the  Christian  Church  in  Wilson  and  was  its  pastor 
for  a  number  of  years.  He  was  an  ardent  worker.  He  served 
the  following  churches:  Bethany  in  Edgecombe  County;  Corinth 
and  Antioch  (Farmville),  Pitt  County;  Plymouth,  Washington 
County ;  Bowling  Green,  Virginia ;  First  Christian  Church,  Wil- 
son, North  Carolina. 

He  was  a  gallant  soldier  and  saw  service  in  the  Civil  War, 
going  as  First  Lieutenant  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Colo- 
nel G.  W.  Johnson.  He  assisted  in  the  defense  of  Fort  Hatteras. 
He  was  Captain  of  Company  G  of  the  Confederate  Cavalry. 
After  the  war  he  was  chaplain  of  the  Jesse  S.  Barnes  Company 

333 


334  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

of  Confederate  Veterans,  Wilson,  which  office  he  held  until  his 
death. 

Moses  Tyson  Moye  was  a  scholar  and  a  Christian,  a  southern 
gentleman  of  the  old  school — with  all  the  virtues  and  qualifica- 
tions to  make  him  a  man  much  beloved,  highly  respected,  and  of 
great  usefulness  to  his  generation. 

The  following  was  taken  from  a  sketch  of  his  life  by  John  J. 
Harper,  written  in  1900  -,1 

Bro.  Moye  was  intellectual  and  cultured  above  the  ordinary,  and  his 
sermons  and  articles  for  the  public  prints  gave  ample  evidence  of  this.  He 
seemed  to  be  fond  of  writing  for  the  press,  and  was  at  one  time  editor  of 
the  Watch  Tower.  In  secular  matters,  he  was  a  druggist  by  profession, 
and  did  a  great  deal  of  work  of  this  kind,  either  as  proprietor  or  as  sales- 
man, and  was  considered  well  equipped  for  that  business. 

He  had  served  with  the  writer  for  two  years  as  a  member  of  the  Official 
Board  of  the  Convention,  in  the  capacity  of  Recording  Secretary,  and  occu- 
pied that  position  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

He  was  independent  in  judgment  and  thought  for  himself,  was  some- 
times original  in  his  conclusions,  and  had  the  courage  of  his  convictions. 
He  was  not  sufficiently  patronizing  and  conciliatory  to  be  popular  with 
every  one,  but  however  much  others  might  differ  from  him  in  their  views, 
no  one  seemed  to  question  his  sincerity.  He  had  a  high  sense  of  honor, 
strong  faith  in  God,  deep  spirituality,  great  fervency  of  feeling,  and  was 
gifted  in  prayer.  He  thoroughly  understood  the  plea  made  by  the  Disciples 
and  was  thoroughly  committed  to  it,  and  had  little  patience  with  com- 
promises. He  readily  accorded  to  others  sincerity  and  the  right  to  think 
for  themselves,  and  often  worshiped  with  them,  and  was  always  respectful. 
I  could  not  say  just  as  the  apothegm  gives  it  that  he  was  "generous  to 
a  fault, ' '  but  that  he  was  just,  then  generous,  according  to  his  estimate  of 
each  circumstance. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  invade  the  privacy  of  his  home  life  for  additional 
evidence  of  his  worth,  further  than  to  say  that  as  husband,  father  and 
friend  he  was  thoughtful,  loving,  tender  and  true.  He  leaves  a  son,  four 
daughters,  and  many  other  near  relatives  and  friends  who  will  miss  him 
and  sincerely  mourn  his  death. 

I  visited  him  one  week  prior  to  his  death,  and  found  him  suffering  in 
body,  but  bright  in  faith  and  hope,  and  anxious  to  depart  and  be  with 
Christ.  And  when  I  rose  to  leave,  he  requested  me  to  return  when  notified 
and  conduct  his  funeral  service.  And  one  week  later  I  was  summoned  by 
telegram,  and  went  and  complied  with  his  last  request. 

Bro.  Moye  has  passed  from  our  midst  full  of  years,  with  the  period  of 
life  beautifully  rounded  up,  and  has  been  gathered  like  a  shock  of  corn 
fully  ripe  that  cometh  in  its  season.  His  aspirations  were  for  the  good  of 
the  cause  of  Christ,  his  ambition  was  honorable,  his  success  was  excellent, 
his  record  was  free  from  the  least  tarnish,  and  Ms  good  name  will  be 
enduring.     I  knew  him  well,  I  loved  him  much,  I  cherish  his  memory,  and 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST    LEADERS  335 

with  unaffected  sorrow  I  would  place  this  little  leaflet  amid  the  garlands 
upon  his  grave. 

Dr.  John  T.  Walsh  said  of  him  in  1885 :2  "He  is  an  excellent 
preacher,  a  good  scholar,  and  a  logical  reasoner,  but  like  Bro. 
George  Joyner,  is  rather  retiring,  and  does  not  seek  places  of 
eminence  or  distinction,  but  is  content,  if  need  be,  to  be  'a  door- 
keeper in  the  house  of  God.'  He  is  one  of  the  purest  and  most 
unselfish  preachers  among  the  Disciples  in  North  Carolina.  It 
has  been  a  matter  of  regret  that  Bro.  Moye  has  not  been  more 
active  in  the  gospel  ministry  than  he  has,  but  this  is  apt  to  be 
the  case  with  men  of  superior  worth." 

V^ENJAMIN   PaRROTtJ 

1798-1858 

Benjamin  Parrott  was  a  native  of  Lenoir  County.  He  was 
born  on  Lousan  Swamp  and  died  at  his  home  near  Wheat 
Swamp.  He  married  Miss  Harriet  Kennedy,  September  23, 
1825.  They  had  nine  children.  Dr.  John  T.  Walsh  said  in  a 
sketch  of  him:3 

Brother  Parrott  was  baptised  in  1830,  by  Elder  Levi  Braxton,  and  com- 
menced preaching  the  gospel  in  1832.  He  had  the  care  of  several  churches 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  by  which  he  was  much  beloved.  He  spent  a 
great  deal  of  time  in  going  about  preaching  the  gospel  to  his  fellow  men, 
and  trying  to  do  the  will  of  his  Heavenly  Father.  He  was  often  called  on 
to  visit  the  sick,  and  to  pray  for  them  and  comfort  them.  He  was  often 
called  upon  to  preach  funerals,  and  frequently  traveled  many  miles  from 
home  for  this  purpose. 

During  the  earlier  part  of  his  ministry  he  was  compelled  to  labor  on  his 
farm,  and  often  worked  during  the  week,  and  then  rode  many  miles  to 
preach  on   Lord's   day. 

But  few  have  spent  more  time,  or  seemed  more  anxious  to  do  good  to 
their  fellow  men  than  Elder  Parrott. 

He  was  a  kind  husband  and  father,  and  an  indulgent  master. 

Elder  Parrott  was  a  plain,  practical  preacher.  He  made  no  attempts  at 
eloquence  or  profound  reasoning.  His  appeals  were  always  made  to  the 
heart,  rather  than  to  the  head.  His  benevolent  and  kind  heart  would  not 
permit  him  to  inflict  pain  on  anyone,  hence  he  was  not  a  good  disciplin- 
arian. He  sought  to  win  the  erring  back  to  the  path  of  duty,  rather  by 
mercy  than  justice.  The  last  Conference  he  attended  was  at  Wheat 
Swamp  M.  H.  in  October,  1858.  He  was  then  laboring  under  a  deeply 
seated  cold,  which  continued  to  grow  worse  until  his  symptoms  manifested 
a  fully  developed  case  of  pneumonia,    "x 


336  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

Elder  Parrott  was  emphatically  a  good  man.  He  had  but  few  enemies 
in  the  world.  The  people  respected  him,  and  his  brethren  loved  him.  He 
lived  in  the  hearts  of  the  brethren  at  Wheat  Swamp,  and  his  death  to  them 
was  deeply  regretted.  But  he  is  gone!  Gone  to  his  heavenly  rest!  His 
earthly  toils  are  over,  and  his  spirit  is  at  home  with  his  Heavenly  Father. 

John  Powell 
1791-1850 
The  following  was  taken  from  a  sketch  by  John  B.  Gaylord  :4 

Elder  John  Powell  was  born  in  Lenoir  County.  He  was  the  son  of  John 
and  Celia  Powell.  They  were  poor  as  to  this  world's  goods  and  conse- 
quently raised  their  children  without  many  worldly  advantages.  But  they 
taught  them  to  deal  kindly  and  live  honestly  with  all  men.  They  were 
members  of  the  original  Baptist  Church  at  Lousan  Swamp  M.  H.,  Lenoir 
County.  They  died  pious  Christians,  and  well  beloved  by  all  that  knew 
them. 

John  Powell,  their  son,  joined  the  original  Baptist  Church  at  Lousan 
Swamp  M.  H.,  Lenoir  County,  in  1812,  and  was  baptised  by  Elder  James 
Roach.  He  lived  a  pious  member  of  that  church  many  years.  Afterwards, 
when  in  1818  he  moved  into  the  neighborhood  of  Little  Swift  Creek,  Craven 
County,  he  was  one  of  those  that  first  constituted  Little  Swift  Creek  Church, 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  Elder  Isaac  Pipkin,  about  the  year  1820.  He 
was  ordained  as  a  preacher  by  Elder  Isaac  Pipkin  in  the  year  1832.  He 
had  the  care  of  that  church  nearly  18  years;  and  though  he  was  no  great 
pulpit  orator,  his  piety,  his  upright  walk,  and  godly  conversation  induced 
his  brethren  to  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus.  In  1841  Elder  Powell  embraced 
the  principles  of  the  Reformation.  He  took  the  Bible  alone  as  his  Rule  of 
Faith  and  Practice.  From  the  Bible,  he  offered  the  practice  of  primitive 
Christianity  to  his  brethren — many  of  whom  adopted  it.  He  proclaimed 
the  original  Gospel  to  the  world;  and  many  believed  with  their  hearts  and 
confessed  with  their  mouths,  the  Lord  Jesus. 

He  died  in  the  full  assurance  of  a  blessed  immortality.  During  the 
whole  of  his  ministerial  life,  he  sustained  an  unblemished  character;  and 
was  beloved  and  esteemed  by  all  that  knew  him.  He  was  twice  married. 
He  left  a  widow  (but  no  children)  and  many  relations  and  friends  to  mourn 
their  loss. 

John  Bunyan  Respess 

1833-1909 

John  Bunyan  Respess  was  born  near  Plymouth  and  died  at 
Pantego.  He  began  preaching  when  nineteen  years  of  age.  He 
was  trained  under  Jno.  M.  Gurganus.  He  married  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Hyman  Stubbs,  December  16,  1853.     His  first  wife  having 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST    LEADERS  337 

died  he  married  Miss  Cornelia  Alice  Latham,  January  16,  1893. 
He  was  twice  a  candidate  for  Federal  Congress  but  defeated. 
He  served  Beaufort  County  as  Representative,  also  as  Senator 
in  the  North  Carolina  Legislature.  He  was  Postmaster  at  Wash- 
ington, North  Carolina,  1898-1903,  where  he  was  also  Collector 
of  Customs  for  six  years.  He  was  a  Presidential  elector  for 
Grant,  Hayes,  Garfield,  Harrison  and  McKinley.  He  was  re- 
markable for  his  platform  ability  in  a  long  political  career.  He 
preached  for  Disciples  of  Christ  more  than  a  half  century. 
Dennis  W.  Davis  said  in  a  memoir  of  him  in  1909  :B 
He  has  been  closely  connected  with  our  work  in  this  state  from  its  very 
beginning,  and  was  considered  by  many  as  one  of  our  strongest  preachers, 
especially  on  first  principles.  His  mother  died  soon  after  he  was  born,  and 
his  father,  Ransom  Respess,  soon  married  again  and  moved  to  another  state, 
leaving  J.  B.  and  his  brother  George,  who  was  two  years  older,  with  their 
grandfather,  Rhuel  Windley. 

The  grandfather  being  a  staunch  Calvinist,  took  but  little  interest  in 
education,  hence  this  boy's  muscle  received  more  thorough  training  than  his 
mind.  Had  his  early  life  been  surrounded  with  the  educational  advantages 
of  the  present  day,  he  would  have  easily  ranked  among  the  greatest  men 
of  our  time.  As  a  public  speaker  he  had  few  equals.  Unfortunately  for 
the  Church,  owing  to  the  circumstances  which  surrounded  him,  the  better 
part  of  his  life  was  devoted  to  politics  and  other  secular  matters.  Not- 
withstanding his  limited  education,  he  was  well-informed  on  the  current 
topics  of  the  day,  both  secular  and  religious.  There  is  no  doubt  as  far  as 
his  religious  enlargement  is  concerned,  but  that  his  last  days  were  by  far 
his  best  days.  He  kept  up  closely  with  the  religious  movements  and  growth 
both  in  the  state  and  out  of  it.  We  have  no  sort  of  doubt  but  ' '  His  delight 
was  in  the  law  of  the  Lord. ' '  His  was  an  active  life.  He  was  twice  elected 
to  the  state  senate  where  he  served  with  ability.  His  last  public  trust  was 
postmaster  at  Washington,  North  Carolina,  which  office  he  resigned  after  a 
few  years,  on  account  of  failing  health.  He  united  with  the  Christian 
Church  in  July,  1850,  under  one  of  our  pioneers,  John  M.  Gurganus.  He 
preached  his  first  sermon  the  following  December.  His  ministry  covered  a 
period  of  more  than  fifty  years,  and  the  judgment  alone  will  tell  of  the 
souls  he  led  to  Christ,  the  sad  hearts  he  comforted,  and  the  good  he  did  in 
various  ways. 

Henry  Smith 

1789-1857 
The  following  was  taken  from  a  memoir  by  Josephus  Latham  :6 

Elder  Henry  Smith,  was  bom  at  his  father's  residence  on  Fungo  Creek, 
Beaufort  County.  His  parents  were  Joseph  Smith  (a  Baptist  Minister) 
and  Mary  Smith,  who  were  poor,  so  far  as  this  world's  goods  are  concerned; 
but  rich  in  faith  towards  their  Savior.     This  being  so,  early  impressions  of 


338  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

piety  were  made  on  their  son's  mind  and  he  obeyed  the  gospel  when  quite 
young;  and  having  a  heart  full  of  love  for  his  fellow  beings,  he  commenced 
preaching  as  soon  as  the  year  1814;  and  though  he  had  never  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  being  well  educated,  yet  he  learned  to  read  and  write  tolerably 
well,  but  his  zeal  for  the  cause  he  had  espoused  combined  with  splendid 
talents  for  singing,  caused  fine  congregations  to  attend  his  ministry;  and 
after  his  father 's  death,  having  taken  charge  of  the  churches  formerly 
under  his  care,  prosperity  dawned  upon  them  and  many  were  converted  to 
the  cause  he  had  embraced;  and  although  he  had  a  rising  family  (having 
married  Susan  Ives,  of  Craven  County,  North  Carolina),  entirely  dependent 
upon  him  for  support  yet  he  often  left  the  endearments  of  home  made 
delightful  by  one  of  the  best  of  wives,  to  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  of  sal- 
vation to  his  fellow  man;  but  unfortunately  in  that  day,  the  people  too 
generally  considered  that  souls  were  sufficient  for  the  preacher 's  hire ;  so 
he  struggled  on  in  poverty  for  many  years  until  his  family  numbered  a 
wife  and  seven  children,  three  sons  and  four  daughters,  but  they  all,  except 
two  sons,  died  before  he  did. 

His  first  wife,  who  was  the  mother  of  all  his  children,  died  in  1837,  after 
which  he  married  a  Miss  Wilkinson,  in  Hyde  County,  North  Carolina,  but 
she  lived  only  a  short  time,  when  he  broke  up  housekeeping  and  devoted 
his  life  and  energies  to  the  proclamation  of  the  ancient  gospel.  He  took 
his  stand  upon  the  Bible  and  the  Bible  alone,  as  the  only  creed  necessary 
for  the  follower  of  Christ.  Consequently,  he  met  with  bitter  opposition 
from  those  who  chose  still  to  cling  to  human  creeds,  customs  and  doctrines, 
and  the  commandments  of  men;  but  he  battled  manfully  for  the  "faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints, ' '  and  but  for  him  our  churches  in  Craven  and 
Carteret  would  perhaps  have  "gone  by  the  board";  but  his  untiring  zeal, 
noble  independence,  and  great  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  caused  many  to 
embrace  the  true  gospel  in  his  field  of  labor,  for  he  was  one  of  our  most, 
if  not  the  most,  successful  preacher,  as  shown  in  winning  so  many  to  the 
Savior.  And  we  all  remember  with  pleasure  the  deep  affection  breathed 
toward  him  in  every  section,  which  he  visited.  Among  his  numerous  friends 
and  brethren,  Brother  Stephen  W.  Woolard  and  lady,  were  numbered,  whom 
he  called  to  see  on  the  6th  or  7th  of  December,  1857,  and  was  welcomed 
by  them  with  joy.  After  supper,  he  spoke  of  death  in  a  very  calm  manner, 
saying  he  was  "ready  to  go  at  any  time";  but  alas!  how  little  did  that 
dear  family  think  that  the  messenger  already  hovered  over  to  bear  another 
trophy  to  the  spirit  land.  He  retired  to  bed,  and  in  the  still  hours  of 
night,  when  no  earthly  being  anticipated  it,  and  none  were  there  to  see  him 
die,  and  no  loved  one  to  wipe  the  cold,  damp  sweat  from  his  brow,  the 
messenger,  death,  came.  The  aged  soldier  of  the  cross  pulled  the  covering 
up  around  his  neck,  and  perhaps  without  even  a  struggle  he  yielded  up  his 
spirit  into  the  arms  of  death !  On  the  next  day  the  sun  arose  as  beautifully 
perhaps  as  ever,  and  shed  her  brilliant  rays  upon  the  earth,  bidding  man  to 
rise  from  his  couch:  but  with  it  the  aged  man  rose  not.  The  family  went 
to  wake  him,  and  to  their  astonishment  they  found  only  the  body  of  old 
father  Smith! 


MEMOIRS    OP    PAST    LEADERS  339 

Robert  Whorton,  of  Whortonsville,  who  remembered  Smith 
stated  that  in  his  latter  years  Smith  had  a  perfectly  bald  head 
and  was  toothless.7  Smith  procured  a  black  wig  and  false  teeth. 
Mrs.  C.  A.  D.  Grainger  recalled  that  once  when  Henry  Smith 
stopped  at  the  home  of  her  father,  Winsor  Dixon,  a  very  amus- 
ing incident  occurred.8  The  colored  servant  girl  went  to  the 
visiting  preacher's  room  to  carry  some  fresh  water.  Smith  had 
discarded  his  black  wig  and  false  teeth  and  put  them  in  a  rather 
suggestive  position  on  the  dresser  while  he  rested  on  the  couch. 
The  negro  girl  seeing  the  wig  and  the  teeth  but  not  observing 
the  preacher  came  to  a  hasty  conclusion  and  fled.  She  exclaimed 
to  the  household  that  the  preacher's  head  had  come  off  and  was 
laying  on  the  dresser. 

Mrs.  Grainger  also  related  that  it  was  the  custom  of  "Uncle" 
Smith  to  carry  a  soft  brush,  without  a  handle,  in  his  pocket. 
With  this  he  would  brush  gently  the  children's  hair,  after  he 
had  called  them  to  him,  and  put  his  hand  on  their  heads  to  bless 
them. 

Robert  William  Stancill   J 

1854-1924 


5c 


Robert  William  Stancill  was  a  native  of  the  Gum  Swamp  com- 
munity, in  Pitt  County.  He  was  the  first  located  minister  of 
the  Church  of  Christ  at  Winston-Salem,  North  Carolina.  The 
following  is  a  memoir  given  by  B.  H.  Melton:9 

In  the  home-going  of  Brother  Robert  W.  Stancill,  the  cause  of  the  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ  on  the  Atlantic  Seaboard  has  lost  a  faithful  friend  and  a 
worthy  advocate.  Brother  Stancill  was  a  "Good  man,  full  of  faith  and  the 
Holy  Spirit."  His  private  life  was  his  most  effective  sermon.  His  fine 
sense  of  honor,  his  quiet  devotion  to  the  finest  ideals  of  life  made  his  min- 
istry a  blessing  to  thousands. 

As  a  preacher  he  had  a  consuming  passion  to  "know  Christ  and  the 
power  of  His  resurrection. ' '  Jesus  was  real  to  him  and  he  was  never  quite 
so  happy  as  when  preaching  His  "unsearchable  riches."  He  loved  God's 
Book  and  God's  Church  and  God's  people  with  an  undying  affection.  The 
neediest  field  for  service  made  the  greatest  call  upon  his  heart  and  he  en- 
dured many  hardships  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  born  in 
the  ' '  Old  North  State ' '  more  than  seventy  years  ago,  graduated  from  the 
College  of  the  Bible  under  the  teaching-  of  the  immortal  trio,  Grubbs, 
Graham,  and  McGravey.  He  devoted  over  forty  years  to  the  gospel  ministry. 
I  While  quite  a  young  man,  he  met  and  married  Miss  Sallie  Dixon  of 
'Hookerton,  North  Carolina,  a  woman  of  rare  culture  and  character  and  the 


340  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

daughter  of  the  sainted  Dr.  Dixon  and  ' '  Mother  Dixon ' '  as  we  young 
ministers  loved  to  call  her.  Mrs.  Staneill  is  often  called  a  model  preacher's 
wife.  In  the  closing  days  of  brother  Staneill 's  life  it  was  beautiful  to  see 
the  devoted  wife,  the  three  sons,  and  two  lovely  daughters  minister  to  the 
father.  His  going  was  like  a  golden  sunset.  On  August  the  30th  we  laid 
him  to  rest  in  Columbia  Cemetery,  near  Washington,  until  the  "dawning  of 
the  morning."  Our  prayer  should  be:  "Heavenly  Father  prepare  us  for 
the  last  great  change,  when  the  body  shall  have  done  its  work  on  earth  and 
the  Spirit  enters  on  its  eternal  adventure,  when  God  shall  crown  His  faith- 
ful ones  and  the  faces  of  those  we  love  shall  smile  us  into  heaven." 

Edward  Kerman  Statzer 
1839-1875 

Dr.  Henry  D.  Harper  gave  the  following  memoir:10 

The  outlines,  at  least,  of  every  life  that  has  been  spent  in  toil  and  sacri- 
fice for  the  good  of  others,  deserve  a  place  in  our  memory,  and  to  be  trans- 
mitted to  future  generations  for  their  encouragement. 

Brother  E.  K.  Statzer  was  born  in  Abingdon,  Virginia,  September  15th, 
1839,  but  was  brought  up  in  Russell  County  eighteen  miles  from  the  place 
of  his  birth. 

His  parents,  who  were  zealous  Methodists  had  him  sprinkled  in  infancy, 
and  while  young,  he  manifested  a  desire  to  be  useful  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord;  and  having  imbibed  the  doctrine  of  Methodism,  at  an  early  age  he 
became  a  member  of  that  denomination,  where  he  soon  manifested  that 
spirit  of  perseverance,  and  self-denial  which  seemed  to  be  present  in  every 
act  of  his  after  life. 

In  1861,  when  the  first  war  notes  were  sounded  throughout  the  Old 
Dominion,  he  volunteered  his  services  in  defense  of  the  home  of  his  mother, 
but  on  account  of  physical  disability,  he  was  put  on  light  duty  in  the  City 
of  Richmond,  as  clerk  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department. 

In  1862,  becoming  dissatisfied  with  the  tenets  of  Methodism  he  united 
with  the  Missionary  Baptists  and  was  immersed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burrows, 
then  of  Richmond. 

On  the  20th  of  January,  1864,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Esther 
Braddy,  of  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina,  Rev.  Leander  Keer  officiating. 

His  wife  had  been  a  Methodist  about  five  years,  but  soon  joined  the 
Baptists  with  her  husband,  believing  that  all  religious  parties  were  doing 
good. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1865,  they  returned  to  his  father's  home  in 
Russell  County,  Virginia,  where  his  wife  first  met  a  congregation  of  Dis- 
ciples, and  on  their  first  interview  with  Brother  J.  C.  Campbell,  who  was 
preaching  for  the  church  at  that  place,  her  mind  was  forcibly  impressed 
with  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  as  preached  by  the  Disciples,  and  in  her 
own  language,  she  had  at  last  "found  one  Christian  who  took  the  Bible  in 
its  native  simplicity  as  it  was. ' '  Reading,  investigation  and  discussion 
ensued,  and  Bro.  Statzer,  also,  soon  saw  new  beauty  in  the  Word  of  God. 


MEMOIRS   OF    PAST    LEADERS  341 

Their  friends  and  relatives  sought  to  divert  their  attention  from  the 
new,  and  supposed  dangerous,  doctrine;  but  in  this  they  were  not  successful. 
Having  made  up  their  minds,  coolly  and  deliberately,  husband  and  wife 
together,  resolved  to  acknowledge  nothing  as  an  authoritative  document  in 
matters  of  religion,  but  the  Bible  alone,  and  to  follow  its  teaching  in  all 
things. 

Accordingly,  in  September,  1866,  they  united  with  the  Church  of  Christ 
at  some  point  in  "Washington  County,  Virginia,  under  the  ministry  of  Sam- 
uel Millard,  but  took  membership  at  Oak  Grove,  Russell  County,  where  he 
was  soon  appointed  to  fill  the  office  of  Elder. 

In  September,  1869,  he  removed  to  Taylorsville,  Tennessee;  and  on  the 
14th  of  May,  1870,  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  by  J.  C. 
Campbell,  Thomas  J.   Crosswhite,  and  John  W.  Mink. 

In  January,  1871,  he  started  on  a  teaching  and  preaching  tour  in  Ten- 
nessee and  North  Carolina,  which  lasted  some  months,  after  which  he  re- 
turned to  his  home  in  Virginia. 

In  March,  1872,  he  removed  to  Battleboro,  North  Carolina,  where  he 
remained,  however,  only  until  June,  when  he  removed  to  Fayetteville,  North 
Carolina,  where  he  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  the  ministry  among 
the  poor.  This  was  a  very  uninviting  field,  and  it  required  excessive  and 
tedious  labor  to  make  an  impression;  and  having  at  the  same  time  to  labor 
for  means  to  sustain  his  family,  it  was  all  the  more  burdensome.  Like 
other  men,  he  did  not  have  the  foresight  of  a  prophet,  and  like  other  men, 
made  some  mistakes. 

His  ministry  was  full  of  hardships  and  many  disappointments,  but  his 
unyielding  spirit  would  not  allow  him  the  recreation  necessary  to  health, 
hence  his  speedy  decline  in  health,  and  premature  death. 

He  had  succeeded  in  organizing  a  congregation  of  about  72  members  in 
Fayetteville,  but  when  he  became  unable  to  "feed  the  Flock,"  many  of 
them  went  astray. 

The  writer  visited  him  during  his  last  illness,  and  though  he  suffered 
long  with  that  dread  disease,  consumption,  yet,  his  fortitude,  meekness  and 
submission,  plainly  bespoke  what  manner  of  man  he  was,  and  told  that  all 
was  well!  On  the  30th  day  of  March,  1875,  in  the  36th  year  of  his  age,  in 
the  arms  of  Jesus  he  calmly  closed  his  eyes  in  that  sleep  which  is  sweet 
only  to  the  Christian. 

Lemuel  David  Sumerlin 

1845-1877 

The  following  was  taken  from  a  memoir  by  John  J.  Harper :" 

If  the  success  or  failure,  in  high  and  holy  attainments,  of  each  succeed- 
ing generation,  is  largely  attributable  to  the  conduct  of  the  generation 
which  preceded  it,  then  the  ennobling  deeds  of  the  wise  and  good  should 
be  carefully  embalmed,  and  faithfully  transmitted  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  are  to  come  after  them. 


342  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

The  subject  of  this  brief  notice  was  bom  in  Duplin  County,  North  Caro- 
lina. His  parents,  Jesse  and  Margaret  Sumerlin,  some  years  afterwards, 
moved  to  Wayne  County,  and  settled  on  a  farm,  where  they  now  reside. 
They  soon  became  faithful  followers  of  the  Lord  themselves,  and  encour- 
aged their  children  to  do  so.  They  were  in  humble  circumstances,  and  often 
found,  their  energies  severely  taxed,  and  their  resources  heavily  drawn  upon 
to  meet  the  current  necessities  of  their  large  family.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, brother  "Lem, "  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  found  it  necessary  to 
rely  mostly  upon  the  proceeds  of  his  own  industry  while  in  pursuit  of 
knowledge.  In  order  the  better  to  accomplish  this,  after  remaining  and 
laboring  with  his  father  on  the  farm,  until  he  attained  his  majority,  he 
attended  school  and  engaged  in  teaching  alternately;  and  by  rigid  economy, 
and  incessant  application  he  obtained  a  good  English  education,  with  a  fair 
knowledge  of  the  Latin. 

When  about  twenty-two  years  of  age,  under  the  efficient  ministry  of 
brother  Josephus  Latham,  he  became  concerned  about  the  future  welfare  of 
his  soul,  and  being  convinced  that  the  Gospel,  as  preached  by  the  Disciples, 
was  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God,  he  yielded  to  its  demands,  and  was  bap- 
tized into  Christ  by  brother  Latham. 

He  was  very  observant  of  men  and  things,  and  immediately  on  becoming 
a  Christian,  he  noticed  the  great  divergence  from  the  divine  line,  of  many 
sa-called  Christians,  and,  also,  the  world's  great  need  of  the  Gospel  in  its 
original  purity,  divested  of  all  human  appendages.  This  enkindled  in  his 
heart  a  desire  to  raise  a  warning  voice  against  sin,  and  to  point  the  world 
to  that  Savior  whom  he  had  accepted,  and  in  whom  he  had  found  peace 
through  obedience. 

The  congregation  at  Mill  Creek  of  which  he  was  a  member,  being  satis- 
fied of  his  moral  worth  and  Christian  faithfulness,  and,  also,  of  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  plan  of  salvation,  and  promise  of  usefulness  to  the  cause  of 
Christ,  ordered  that  he  should  be  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
which  was  done  in  October,  1S69,  the  writer  and  the  elders  of  the  church 
officiating.  His  first  sermon  had  been  preached  in  August,  of  that  year, 
which  was  the  beginning  of  a  brief  but  useful  ministry. 

His  discourses  were  generally  short,  well  arranged,  and  argumentative, 
rather  than  hortatory.  He  copied  in  a  book  kept  for  the  purpose,  an  out- 
line, or  skeleton  of  each  of  his  discourses,  together  with  the  date  and  place 
where  they  were  preached,  the  number  baptized,  and  many  other  items  of 
interest  worth  preserving. 

He  had  a  clear,  vigorous  and  well-balanced  intellect,  and  had  his  physical 
endowments  been  equal  with  his  mental,  he  could  have  become  a  tower  of 
strength  in  the  gospel  field.  But,  having  a  weak,  nervous  system,  his  inces- 
sant mental  application,  while  engaged  in  teaching  and  preaching,  made 
rapid  inroads  upon  his  health,  and  finally  prevented  the  realization  of  his 
fondest  dreams. 

He  was  married  March  18th,  1875,  to  Miss  Emma  Etta  Bryan,  of  Samp- 
son County,  who,  with  one  child,  a  little  daughter,  survive  him  to  mourn  the 
loss  of  an  affectionate  husband  and  tender  father. 


MEMOIRS   OF    PAST    LEADERS  343 

On  the  third  Lord's  day  in  April,  1875,  he  preached  at  his  regular  ap- 
pointment, at  Eureka,  in  Wayne  County,  and  then  rode  home  several  miles, 
facing  a  cold,  piercing  wind,  from  which  he  contracted  a  deep  cold,  which 
settled  on  his  lungs,  and  rapidly  developed  into  consumption,  from  which 
he  suffered  a  little  over  two  years,  when  death  came  to  his  relief.  The 
attack  was  very  severe  and  unyielding,  so  much  so  that  he  said  to  the 
writer,  on  one  occasion,  that  he  never  had  entertained  any  real  hope  of 
recovery. 

He  was  a  strong  believer  in  the  divine  origin  of  the  contents  of  the 
Bible,  and  hence  his  abundant  resource  of  consolation  in  the  immediate 
prospect  of  death.  On  a  fly-leaf  of  his  Bible,  written  in  his  own  hand,  we 
found  these  words: 

"Read  with  care, 
Study  with  prayer — 
"Twill  thy  heart  console, 
And  save  thy  soul. ' ' 

A  few  days  before  his  death,  in  conversation  on  the  subject,  he  said  to 
the  writer,  ' '  I  am  not  afraid  to  go ;  I  have  tried  to  do  my  duty.  I  can 
willingly  leave  everything  but  my  wife  and  babe. ' '  Here  the  thought  of 
his  young  wife  and  infant  daughter,  both  of  whom  he  tenderly  loved,  moved 
him  to  tears;  but,  suppressing  his  feelings,  he  added,  "the  Lord  will  take 
care  of  them, ' '  and   seemed  to   feel  resigned. 

He  died  calmly  and  peacefully,  at  his  father's  house,  in  Wayne  County. 
His  mind  was  unclouded,  and  his  faith  and  hope  strong  and  brilliant  to  the 
last  moment. 

Notes 

lMinutes,  1900.  2"L.ife  and  Times  of  John  T.  Walsh,"  pages  102,  103. 
aMinutes,  1860.  4Ibid.,  1851.  5Carolina  Evangel,  March  11,  1909.  "Minutes, 
1859.  7In  personal  interview  with  the  author.  8Ibid.  "North  Carolina  Chris- 
tian, Oct.,   1924,   page  14.     ^Minutes,   1877.     "Ibid.,   1878. 


Chapter  XXXVII 
MEMOIRS  OF  PAST  LEADERS   (CONTINUED) 

Peter  Stephen  Swain 

1862-1906 

Peter  Stephen  Swain  was  a  native  of  Washington  Comity,  the 
son  of  C.  W.  and  Ann  Eliza  Swain.  He  was  ordained  to  the 
ministry  at  the  Kinston  Convention,  1894.  The  following  was 
taken  from  a  memoir  by  J.  R.  Tingle  -,1 

He  was  reared  by  Christian  parents,  and  in  early  life  gave  himself  to 
the  Lord  and  was  baptized  by  Brother  J.  W.  Gurganus.  He  was  married 
to  Mis.  Lora  Windley  Harrison,  June  15,  1882,  in  Norfolk,  Virginia,  by 
G.  P.  Rutledge.  He  was  an  affectionate  husband,  a  kind  and  loving  father 
and  a  good  neighbor.  He  leaves  a  wife  and  five  children  and  a  wide  circle 
of  friends  to  mourn  their  loss. 

He  was  an  earnest  and  faithful  Christian  from  the  time  he  obeyed  the 
gospel  until  his  death.  Soon  after  his  connection  with  the  church,  he  be- 
came a  leader  in  Sunday  School  and  prayer  meeting  work.  He  was  at  one 
time  Sunday  School  evangelist  and  did-  acceptable  work  and  awakened  an 
interest  in  this  line  that  has  never  been  lost.  The  Sunday  Schools  were 
revived,  and  their  work  has  steadily  grown.  As  he  advanced  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord  he  desired  to  enter  the  ministry.  To  prepare  himself  for  his 
chosen  work  he  entered  Bethany  College,  West  Virginia,  September,  1891, 
and  continued  for  one  year.  Not  feeling  financially  able  to  finish  the 
course  at  Bethany  he  entered  Carolina  Institute  September,  1892,  and  Caro- 
lina Christian  College  in  September,  1893,  and  completed  the  courses  of 
study  required  by  the  institution.  While  in  Carolina  Christian  College  he 
completed  the  Bible  course  taught  by  the  writer.  This  course  was  a  copy 
of  the  Bible  College  course  of  Lexington,  Kentucky.  He  began  the  ministry 
in  1894  and  continued  a  faithful  advocate  of  the  gospel  until  his  health 
failed  about  two  years  before  his  death.  For  nearly  two  years  he  suffered 
from  a  complication  of  diseases  that  medical  aid  could  not  reach.  The 
writer  visited  him  many  times  during  his  illness  and  he  was  hopeful  until 
the  end.  His  funeral  services  were  conducted  by  Brother  D.  W.  Davis  in 
the  presence  of  many  sorrowing  friends.  Like  many  other  preachers  in 
North  Carolina,  he  connected  farming  and  other  secular  duties  with  his 
ministry  in  order  to  receive  a  support  for  himself  and  family.  For  ten 
years  he  was  active  in  the  ministry  and  notwithstanding  his  secular  engage- 
ments, he  was  successful  in  the  ministry  and  accomplished  much  good  for 
the  cause  of  his  Master.     He  loved  to  work  and  labored  fruitfully  under 

344 


MEMOIRS   OP   PAST   LEADERS  345 

many  disappointments  to  build  up  the  Cause  in  his  native  State.  His  life 
was  consistent  with  his  ministry  and  his  good  example  added  much  force 
to  his  preaching.  He  still  lives  in  the  hearts  and  memories  of  those  who 
knew  him,  and  his  influence  will  long  live  in  the  lives  of  others.  He  was 
at  one  time  supervisor  of  public  schools  of  Washington  County  and  served 
the  people  acceptably  for  two  years.  Owing  to  political  changes,  he  was 
not  re-elected,  but  his  work  was  well  done  and  to  the  general  satisfaction 
of  the  people. 

He  was  a  recognized  leader  of  prohibition  in  his  county,  having  can- 
vassed the  county.  He  was  an  independent  candidate  for  representative  on 
a  temperance  platform  and  received  a  very  respectable  vote,  but  not  enough 
to  elect  as  the  temperance  vote  was  divided. 

He  was  a  strong  advocate  of  all  missionary  work  and  in  full  sympathy 
and  hearty  co-operation  with  every  line  of  church  work.  The  writer  was 
connected  with  him  in  most  of  his  ministerial  life  and  he  was  faithful  and 
true  to  every  trust  committed  to  his  care.  He  has  left  a  record  of  good 
works,  and  will  long  live  in  the  lives  of  others. 

Samuel  W.  Sumrell 

1854-1921 

Samuel  W.  Sumrell  was  a  native  of  Lenoir  County.  The  fol- 
lowing was  taken  from  a  memoir  of  him  given  by  J.  R.  Tingle  :2 

He  was  married  to  Miss  Eunice  Haddock  June,  1878.  He  united  with 
the  Union  Baptists  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  but  in  a  few  years  he  united 
with  the  Christian  Church  at  Bethel  where  he  remained  a  faithful  and 
active  member  until  his  death.  He  was  an  Elder  in  his  home  congregation 
for  many  years  and  held  communion  services  in  connection  with  the  Bible 
School  and  conducted  regular  prayer  meeting  services  every  Sunday  night. 
In  this  way  he  rendered  faithful  and  valuable  service  to  his  home  church 
for  many  years  and  laid  the  foundation  for  more  efficient  work  in  the 
future. 

Later  in  life  he  decided  to  enlarge  his  usefulness  and  enter  the  active 
ministry.  He  realized  the  need  of  a  better  education  and  entered  school 
laboring  under  many  disadvantages  to  better  prepare  himself  for  his  chosen 
work.  He  was  ordained  and  set  apart  to  the  ministry  by  J.  J.  Harper,  J. 
L.  Burns  and  the  writer,  at  the  Convention  held  in  Hookerton,  October, 
1890.  He  at  once  began  serving  weak  and  destitute  churches,  supplement- 
ing his  small  salary  by  farming  and  other  manual  labor.  While  I  was 
located  at  Grifton  in  1893,  he  took  from  me  part  of  the  Bible  Course  given 
at  the  College  of  the  Bible,  Lexington,  Kentucky,  also  preparation  and  de- 
livery of  sermons.  This  short  course  was  a  great  help  to  him  in  his  careful 
study  of  the  Bible  and  preparation  of  his  sermons.  He  was  strictly  a  Bible 
preacher.  While  he  was  not  an  eloquent  speaker,  he  always  had  a  Bible 
message  and  the  people  heard  him  gladly.  He  was  a  preacher  of  unques- 
tioned Christian   character,  honesty  and  morality.     He  practiced  what  he 


346  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

preached  and  lived  as  he  taught  others  to  live.  Like  Enoch  of  old,  he 
walked  with  God.  His  consecrated  life  gave  forco  and  power  to  his  simple 
gospel  sermons  that  made  him  a  power  for  God.  His  ministerial  life  was 
largely  spent  among  the  weak  and  destitute  churches,  building  up  old  ones 
and  organizing  new  ones  in  new  fields  almost  without  money  and  without 
price.  As  I  think  of  this  noble  man  of  God,  I  am  reminded  of  what  Paul 
said  to  the  Church  at  Pnilippi,  ' '  For  me  it  is  better  to  depart  and  be 
with  Christ,  but  for  you  it  is  better  that  I  should  remain."  For  Bro. 
Sumrell  it  was  better  that  he  should  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  but  for  the 
weak  churches  that  he  so  faithfully  served,  it  was  better  that  he  remain 
that  he  might  continue  to  feed  them  with  the  bread  of  life.  He  was  a 
firm  believer  in  the  Bible  and  no  one  ever  questioned  his  soundness  of  faith 
in  the  Divine  authenticity  of  the  Scriptures. 

He  left  a  wife,  four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  one  brother 
and  one  sister,  and  a  host  of  friends  to  mourn  the  loss  of  one  so  near  and 
dear  by  the  ties  of  life.  He  was  a  loving  husband,  kind  father,  and  a 
good  neighbor.  He  has  gone  to  reap  his  reward  for  a  long  life  spent  in 
the  faithful  service  of  his  Master,  but  he  still  lives  in  the  hearts  and  mem- 
ories of  his  many  friends  left  behind,  and  his  good  works  still  follow  him. 
The  funeral  services  were  conducted  by  B.  P.  Smith,  assisted  by  C.  W. 
Howard  and  W.  J.  Shelburne,  and  the  writer.  His  last  remains  were  laid 
to  rest  in  the  old  family  cemetery  to  await  the  resurrection  of  the  just  at 
the  last  day.  A  large  congregation  assembled  to  pay  their  tribute  of  re- 
spect to  one  so  faithful  and  true. 


Joseph  Wickliff  Trotman 
1835-1892 

Joseph  Wickliff  Trotman  was  a  native  of  Gates  County,  a  son 
of  Quentin  H.  Trotman.  At  an  early  age  he  united  with  the 
Missionary  Baptist  Church.  When  forty-five  years  of  age  he 
affiliated  with  the  Disciples,  being  convinced  by  the  preaching 
of  Henry  C.  Bowen,  and  others. 

The  following  was  taken  from  a  memoir  of  him  by  Dennis  W. 
Davis  :3 

Bro.  Trotman  was  first  married  to  Miss  Margaret  Madry,  in  1855,  to 
whom  seven  children  were  born.  He  was  married  a  second  time,  January 
11,  187(3,  to  Mrs.  Mary  Goodwin;  one  child  was  the  result  of  this  marriage. 

Bro.  Trotman  received  his  education  at  Wake  Forest  College  and  being 
a  man  of  fine  intellect,  he  soon  became  a  very  successful  teacher. 

He  was  set  apart  to  the  gospel  ministry  at  Farmville,  Pitt  County,  in 
1883,  and  for  some  time  afterwards  divided  his  time  between  teaching  and 
preaching.  The  year  previous  to  his  ordination,  he  contracted  consumption, 
which  caused  him  to  be  comparatively  inactive  in  the  gospel  ministry.    How- 


MEMOIRS    OP    PAST    LEADERS  347 

ever,  he  was  a  preacher  of  no  mean  ability,  and  did  much  to  establish 
primitive  Christianity  in  his  own  county,  Perquimans. 

It  was  my  pleasure  to  know  Bro.  Trotman  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
a  part  of  the  time  very  intimately.  We  were  set  apart  to  the  ministry  of 
the  Word  at  the  same  time,  and  I  preached  for  his  home  congregation  dur- 
ing 1S92.  I  visited  his  home  monthly,  and  can  say  without  exaggerating, 
that  he  was  one  of  the  most  liberal,  exemplary  Christian  men  I  ever  knew. 
His  soul  was  filled  with  a  desire  to  see  the  Master 's  kingdom  cover  the 
whole  earth,  and  he  labored  to  that  end.  We  have  known  him  time  and 
again  to  walk  six  miles  in  the  country,  although  in  feeble  health,  to  attend 
the  services  of  the  church  and  commemorate  the  death  of  his  Lord  and 
Master. 

He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  Christ,  as  the  Son  of  God  and  Savior  of 
the  world,  and  hence  his  word  was  not  to  be  compromised. 

He  did  his  last  preaching  in  Martin  County  during  '91,  at  which  time  he 
lived  in  the  town  of  Jamesville,  and  presided  over  the  Jamesville  High 
School.  He  was  forced,  on  account  of  failing  health,  to  give  up  his  work 
in  Martin  and  return  to  his  home  in  Hertford,  Perquimans  County,  where 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  earthly  life. 


(  Dr.  John  Tomline  Walsh 
1816-1886 

Dr.  John  Tomline  Walsh  was  the  father  of  the  co-operative 
work  of  North  Carolina  Disciples  of  Christ.  He  was  born  in 
Hanover  County,  Virginia.  He  joined  the  Methodist  Church  in 
1830,  and  was  assistant  Circuit  rider  of  David  Wood  on  the 
Lunenburg  group  in  the  Virginia  Conference.  He  soon  united 
with  the  Baptists,  in  Caroline  County,  Virginia,  and  was  or- 
dained by  them  to  the  ministry.  From  independent  study  of 
the  Word,  and  from  reading  the  Christian  Baptist  and  hearing 
A.  Campbell  preach  in  the  Old  Sycamore  Church,  in  Richmond, 
he  united  shortly  with  Disciples  and  ministered  in  Eastern  Vir- 
ginia. In  1845  he  located  in  business  in  Richmond.  He  went 
to  Philadelphia  in  1848  to  study  medicine.  There  he  received 
the  M.D.  degree  from  the  Eclectic  Medical  College  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  served  them  as  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 
In  1850  he  returned  to  Richmond  to  practice  medicine.  Through 
the  insistence  of  John  Patrick  Dunn  he  came  to  North  Carolina 
March  15,  1852,  and  preached  his  first  sermon  at  Fellow's 
Chapel,  near  Grifton.  The  remaining  thirty-four  years  of  his 
life  were  spent  in  North  Carolina,  except  one  year,  when  he  lived 
in  Baltimore.    He  held  the  most  important  positions  in  the  gift 


348  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

of  his  North  Carolina  brethren.  He  was  President  at  six  State 
Conventions.  He  was  a  State  Evangelist.  He  was  a  pastor  of 
the  Kinston  Church.  He  edited  fourteen  periodicals  in  North 
Carolina,  from  The  Christian  Friend  of  1853,  to  The  Living  Age 
of  1885.  He  wrote  books,  sermonic,  doctrinal,  biographical,  and 
controversial,  of  which  at  least  six  attracted  considerable  atten- 
tion.   He  also  wrote  many  tracts. 

It  fell  to  the  lot  of  Dr.  Walsh  to  lead  North  Carolina  Dis- 
ciples into  an  effective  co-operative  service,  and  to  mould  senti- 
ment for  it  with  his  powerful  pen  and  his  confident  spirit.  In 
1857  he  headed  a  committee  which  drafted  a  Constitution  duly 
adopted  for  an  annual  State  meeting  of  the  Disciples  to  be  com- 
posed of  representatives  of  the  churches.  Of  course  this  co- 
operative plan  met  with  objections  here  and  there,  but  Dr. 
Walsh  and  his  able  contemporaries  stood  by  it  with  all  their 
resources,  and  it  is  the  platform  in  ideals  and  spirit  upon  which 
the  Disciples'  co-operative  work  in  this  State  has  been  projected 
for  more  than  two  generations. 

Dr.  Walsh  led  in  a  general  meeting  of  Disciples  at  Kinston 
April  28,  1877,  in  the  formation  of  the  North  Carolina  Christian 
Missionary  Society.  This  was  a  mere  aggregation  of  individuals 
with  a  missionary  spirit,  and  its  funds  were  derived  from  gifts 
of  life  directors,  life  members,  and  annual  members.  It  was 
co-ordinate  with  the  State  Convention,  but  was  not  constitution- 
ally identified  with  it,  as  is  the  North  Carolina  Christian  Mis- 
sionary Convention,  which  later  originated  and  is  incorporated 
as  such.  Dr.  Walsh  fought  with  outstanding  ability  for  the  life 
and  service  of  this  Society.  He  was  the  first  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary, and  Dr.  Frank  W.  Dixon  the  first  President.  Speaking 
of  the  work  of  this  Society  he  said:  "Our  people  need  to  be 
aroused  on  this  subject  of  missions,  and  that  speedily,  otherwise 
the  cause  we  profess  to  love  will  languish  and  the  pall  of  dark- 
ness and  death  settle  down  upon  all  our  churches.  God  will  not 
bless  us  unless  we  as  a  people  become  more  liberal  in  the  support 
of  the  Gospel.  All  our  preachers  should  consider  it  a  part  of 
their  special  duty  to  plead  the  cause  of  missionary  work." 

Alexander  Campbell  said:4  "Our  Brother  Walsh  wields  a 
strong  pen,  guided  by  good  sense,  Christian  knowledge  and  dis- 
cretion ;  and  *  *  *  can  do  good  service  to  the  cause  of  Bible 
Christianity. ' ' 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST    LEADERS  349 

Moses  Tyson  Moye  said  in  a  memoir  of  him  in  1887  :5 
His  labors  in  North  Carolina,  as  evangelist,  pastor,  writer,  publisher  and 
debater,  extending  through  a  period  of  about  thirty-three  years,  were  almost 
incessant,  and  often  laborious.  In  the  transitory  state  of  the  Disciples  from 
sectisni  to  a  more  exalted  conception  of  Scriptural  teaching  and  practice, 
Dr.  Walsh  became  a  factor  of  much  strength  and  power,  and  contributed 
largely  towards  the  demolition  of  hoary  errors  of  Biblical  knowledge  and 
interpretation,  then  so  universally  prevalent  among  the  public  expounders 
of  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  the  Christ.  As  a  defender  of  the  faith 
held  by  the  Disciples,  no  man  in  the  State  has  so  successfully  met  and  over- 
come the  charge  of  "heresy"  and  " unevangelical  teaching,"  by  which  the 
Brotherhood  have  been  so  bitterly  and  persistently  charged,  as  he.  When- 
ever, wherever,  and  by  whomsoever  assailed,  he  was  ever  ready  to  stand  at 
the  breach,  and  wield  a  trenchant  blade,  in  the  defense  of  truth  and  justice, 
before  which  many  plumed  knights  of  sectarianism  have  gone  down  to  the 
dust,  in  confusion  and  dismay.  This  work,  for  which  he  was  peculiarly 
fitted  by  nature  and  education,  entitles  him  to  the  grateful  consideration 
and  appreciation  of  his  brethren — a  large  debt  for  which  a  just  meed  of 
praise  has  never  been  accorded  him,  even  by  those  whose  battles  he  so  suc- 
cessfully fought  and  won.  His  co-laborers  are  gathering  the  fruit  of  his 
ardent  toil,  probably  unmindful  of  the  planter  and  waterer,  who  helped  to 
prepare  for  the  harvest. 

Evidently  the  power  and  trend  of  his  mind  were  controversial,  and  when 
pressed  in  the  spirit,  in  seasons  of  revival,  and  under  the  inspiration  of 
truth  attacked,  he  became  eloquent  and  impressive,  and  displayed  con- 
spicuously a  high  order  of  talent  and  logical  acumen.  However,  as  a  writer 
and  publisher,  he  will  be  best  known  to  posterity.  *  *  *  A  year  or  more 
before  death  released  him  from  his  labors  of  love,  bronchitis  prostrated 
him,  for  a  time,  and  greatly  impaired  his  voice,  and  a  partial  attack  of 
paralysis  so  affected  his  mind  that,  "the  old  man  eloquent,"  lost  the 
prestige  of  his  mental  vigor,  from  which  he  only  partially  recovered.  His 
last  days  were  passed  amid  great  trouble  and  anxiety,  and  bodily  suffering, 
for  which  there  seemed  to  be  no  alleviation.  Ripe  in  years  and  honors,  with 
the  glow  of  Christian  hope  lighting  his  pathway  to  the  grave,  he  fell  asleep 
in  Jesus,  and  was  buried  by  the  side  of  his  last  wife,  in  the  Cemetery  at 
Kinston,  North  Carolina,  to  await  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  and  then  to 
enter  into  the  full  fruition  of  hope  and  peace,  in  Christ  Jesus,  forevermore. 


Willis  Eobert  Williams 

1826-1910 

Willis  Robert  Williams  was  a  native  of  Pitt  County.  He  at- 
tended more  than  fifty  of  the  Disciples'  State  Conventions.  He 
was  the  son  of  Robert  Williams  and  the  grandson  of  John  Wil- 
liams, who  was  a  Pitt  County  patriot  in  the  American  Revolu- 


350  NORTH    CAROLINA    DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

tion.6  The  great-grandfather,  Robert  Williams  was  from  Wales. 
This  Robert  Williams  first  located  in  Pennsylvania,  and  came 
to  Falkland  community  in  Pitt  County  in  1727. 

W.  R.  Williams  was  left  an  orphan.  An  uncle  reared  him  and 
gave  him  a  good  college  training.  He  early  became  prominent 
in  public  service,  serving  as  a  member  of  the  County  Board  of 
Education  and  examiner  of  teachers.  He  was  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  twenty  years.  He  was  master  of  the  local  Grange, 
also  for  a  period,  of  the  State  Grange,  and  often  attended  the 
National  Grange  meetings  as  a  delegate.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  for  a  considerable  period.  He 
served  in  the  House  and  Senate  at  Raleigh  in  various  terms 
from  1866  to  1890.  He  introduced  a  Confederate  Pension  Bill 
in  the  House  at  Raleigh  in  1866,  the  first  in  the  Southern  States. 

He  married  Miss  Harriet  P.  Leary,  daughter  of  Colonel 
Thomas  H.  Leary,  of  Edenton.  He  was  a  founder  of  North 
Carolina  State  College  at  Raleigh.  He  originated  the  six  per 
cent  interest  law,  but  another  secured  its  passage  through  the 
Legislature.  He  was  a  Disciple  layman  for  more  than  sixty 
years. 

Virgil  Angelo  Wilson 

1834-1905 

Virgil  Angelo  Wilson,  pioneer  preacher  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ  in  the  North  Carolina  Piedmont,  was  a  native  of  Pfaff- 
town,  North  Carolina.  His  father,  Dr.  Wilson,  located  at  Dow- 
elltown,  one  mile  from  Yadkinville,  North  Carolina,  while  Virgil 
was  a  youth.  He  married  Miss  Martha  Hauser,  December  27, 
1856. 

Virgil  Wilson  had  just  begun  the  practice  of  law  at  Yadkin- 
ville when  he  heard  the  pioneer  Christian  preachers,  Dexter  A. 
Snow  and  Dr.  William  H.  Hughart.  Later  he  went  to  Snow- 
ville,  Virginia,  where  Dr.  Chester  Bullard  baptized  him.  He 
then  prepared  for  the  ministry  at  Bethany  College.  He 
preached  at  Pfafftown  during  the  War  Between  the  States  to  a 
company  of  soldiers  encamped  there.  Soon  after  the  war,  J.  A. 
Transou  became  the  first  member  of  the  Pfafftown  Christian 
Church.  In  the  Sixties  and  Seventies  Wilson  preached  much  in 
Eastern  North  Carolina.  He  led  a  revival  at  Wilson  in  1866,  in 
which  W.  N.  Hacknev,  father  of  the  well-known  Hacknev  Broth- 


MEMOIRS    OF    PAST    LEADERS  351 

ers,  was  converted.  He  worked  likewise  at  Kinston  in  1870  with 
Dr.  Joseph  Henry  Foy.  Wilson  led  Andrew  J.  Loftin  into  the 
Kinston  Church.  Loftin  was  the  leading  lawyer  of  Lenoir 
County,  and  the  pivotal  man  in  the  Kinston  Church  of  Christ 
at  a  critical  period. 

Several  among  the  strong  characters  of  Eastern  North  Caro- 
lina Disciples  of  Christ  of  today  owe  their  church  connection  to 
the  powerful  preaching  of  Virgil  Wilson. 

Virgil  Wilson  was  a  man  of  pronounced  eccentricities,  yet  his 
sermons  were  profoundly  impressive,  and  long  remembered  for 
their  eloquence. 

He  had  a  peculiar  method  in  his  evangelistic  preaching.  He 
would  not  stand  in  the  pulpit  but  would  walk  up  and  down  in 
the  aisles  with  an  open  Bible  in  his  hand.  He  would  impress 
individuals  in  the  audience  by  holding  the  open  Book  so  they 
could  read  a  certain  passage  while  he  quoted  the  same  passage 
to  them  from  memory. 

Robert  Hart  Rountree  related  an  incident  which  occurred  at 
Rountrees  Church  in  the  Seventies  while  Wilson  was  preaching 
there.7  He  said  that  the  congregation  was  so  spellbound  by 
Wilson's  eloquence  that  they  sat  quite  silent  for  a  period  after 
he  had  closed.  Rountree  became  restless  and  asked  another 
preacher  who  wTas  present,  who  was  considered  an  indifferent 
speaker  to  speak  to  the  crowd.  Rountree  said:  "I  knew  it  was 
late  and  that  the  crowd  ought  to  go  home,  and  if  this  man 
started  to  talk  I  was  sure  they  would  start  home."  They  did. 
The  spell  was  broken. 

It  is  related  that  Wilson  was  moved  to  devote  his  life  to  the 
ministry  by  the  following  circumstances.8  He  was  a  young 
lawyer  at  Yadkin ville.  He  was  given  a  case  involving  a  tragedy. 
A  mother  was  accused  of  murder  of  her  own  child.  She  was 
poor  and  had  employed  no  counsel.  The  judge  appointed  Wil- 
son as  her  attorney.  Wilson  said  long  afterward  that  he  be- 
lieved when  he  took  her  case  that  she  was  guilty,  and  that  after 
he  had  talked  with  her  in  the  jail  preparing  her  defense  he 
virtually  knew  she  was  guilty.  But  he  put  all  of  his  strength 
into  the  defense.  He  made  a  speech  to  the  jury  which  brought 
tears  to  their  eyes.  He  won  their  verdict.  He  decided  then  and 
there  that  his  calling  was  the  ministry. 


352  north  carolina  disciples  of  christ 

Henry  Winfield 
1845-1897 

Henry  Winfield  was  a  native  of  Pantego,  Beaufort  County. 
About  1872  he  married  Mrs.  Mary  Voliva,  daughter  of  William 
Gradeless  of  Pantego.    She  was  "a  faithful  helpmeet." 

The  following  was  taken  from  a  memoir  given  by  W.  0.  Win- 
field :9 

In  September,  1873,  at  his  home  church  in  Pantego,  he  confessed  his 
faith  in  Jesus  and  obeyed  from  the  heart  the  ' '  form  of  doctrine  whereunto 
he  was  delivered ;  and  being  made  free  from  sin, ' '  he  became,  indeed  a 
servant  of  Jesus,  and  entered  immediately  upon  an  active  christian  life. 

On  the  first  day  of  February,  1874,  he  was  ordained  to  the  ministry 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  by  brethren  Augustus  Latham  and  John  E.  Win- 
field. He  preached  his  first  sermon  in  Pantego,  and  on  a  cold  Sunday 
morning  in  April  baptized  his  first  convert  in  Tarkill  Creek  near  Pantego. 

He  soon  received  a  call  to  take  the  Pastoral  care  of  the  churches  of 
Beaver  Dam  and  Old  Ford.  At  the  end  of  two  years  of  faithful  service 
with  the  above  churches,  he  resigned  and  moved  to  Robersonville.  He 
served  the  Robersonville  and  neighboring  churches  for  ten  years  when  he 
resigned  to  take  charge  of  the  Pamlico  group.  Under  his  wise  counsel  and 
untiring  efforts,  the  above  churches  were  very  much  strengthened,  and 
walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  comfort  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were 
greatly  multiplied. 

His  educational  facilities  were  limited;  but  he  improved  them  to  the 
best  advantage,  and,  by  dint  of  energy,  obtained  a  fair  education  and  a 
good  store  of  general  information.  He  was  a  great  reader,  a  deep  thinker 
and  possessed  a  remarkably  good  memory.  He  was  firm,  independent,  and 
not  afraid  at  any  time  to  speak  out  his  convictions  of  right.  He  was 
blessed  with  a  strong,  logical,  inquiring  mind,  commanding  form  and  a 
good  speaker.     His  sermons  were  compact,  logical  and  severely  scriptural. 

He  was  elected  President  of  the  North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary 
Convention  in  1892,  which  position  he  filled  with  entire  satisfaction  to  his 
brethren. 

His  services  were  also  sought  in  the  political  field.  In  1896,  while  filling 
his  appointment,  he  was  nominated  by  acclamation  by  the  Democratic 
County  Convention  of  Pamlico  county  to  represent  them  in  the  State  legis- 
lature. He  modestly  declined  the  honor  choosing  the  higher  position  of 
preaching  the  gospel  to  populists,  republicans,  and  democrats. 

He  was  nearing  the  completion  of  his  seventh  year  with  the  Pamlico 
group,  when  the  summons  came  to  cease  laboring  in  the  church  militant 
and  come  up  higher  to  enjoy  the  realization  of  the  "exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises"  of  Him  whom  he  so  beautifully  served.  He  was  re- 
turning from  New  Bern  to  his  home  in  Bayboro  when  the  end  came.  He 
stopped  with  Bro.  Barzilia  Holton,  a  very  warm  friend,  was  taken  suddenly 
ill,  and  in  two  hours  was  ' '  absent  from  the  body  and  present  with  the 
Lord. ' » 


memoirs  of  past  leaders  353 

James  Latham  Winfield 

1852-1897 

James  Latham  Winfield  was  a  prominent  minister  and  editor 
among  North  Carolina  Disciples  of  Christ.  He  was  a  founder 
of  Carolina  Christian  College,  Ayden,  North  Carolina.  He  was 
born  in  Beaufort  County,  and  died  at  Washington,  North  Caro- 
lina. He  early  united  with  the  Union  Baptists  and  began  to 
preach  when  seventeen  years  of  age.  He  united  with  Disciples 
of  Christ,  1871.  He  was  a  student  in  the  College  of  the  Bible, 
Lexington,  Kentucky,  from  April,  1873,  to  June,  1874.  He 
married  Miss  Sarah  A.  Ellis,  February  22,  1876.  From  1879 
to  1885,  he  was  editor  of  the  Watch  Tower,  and  again  from 
March,  1889,  to  September,  1897.  He  was  chairman  of 
Beaufort  County  Board  of  Education  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
His  persistent  and  powerful  agitation  in  the  interest  of  higher 
education  among  the  Disciples  of  North  Carolina,  was  his  out- 
standing contribution  to  their  history. 

J.  R.  Tingle  said  in  a  memoir  of  him:1" 

Bro.  Winfield  was  a  strong  friend  to  every  educational  enterprise.  lie 
labored  earnestly  and  faithfully  for  several  years  to  establish  somewhere 
in  North  Carolina  an  institution  of  learning  to  be  owned  and  controlled 
by  our  brotherhood.  He  finally  succeeded  in  establishing  the  Carolina  Chris- 
tian College  at  Ayden,  North  Carolina.  The  accomplishment  of  this  effort 
was  one  of  his  greatest  desires,  and  the  existence  of  this  institution  is 
due  to  the  increasing  efforts  of  the  deceased.  In  his  death,  the  Carolina 
Christian  College  sustains  the  loss  of  its  most  earnest  and  ardent  advocate. 
He  occupied  an  important  position  in  the  educational  movements  of  his 
county  and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  chairman  of  the  county  Board 
of  Education. 

In  1896  he  was  unanimously  nominated  for  the  Legislature  in  Beaufort 
County,  but  his  devotion  to  the  ministry  and  his  editorial  duties  caused 
him  to  refuse  this  honor  esteeming  the  reproaches  of  the  cause  of  Christ 
greater  riches  than  political  honors. 

Bro.  Winfield  was  a  successful  preacher,  ever  ready  to  contend  for  the 
faith  and  hope  of  the  gospel.  He  was  logical  in  his  conclusions  and  relied 
implicitly  for  results  upon  the  Word  of  God.  He  was  social,  mingling 
freely  with  all  classes,  being  able  at  all  times  to  make  himself  pleasant 
in  all  circles  .  He  was  able  to  suit  his  conversations  and  customs  to  all 
classes  so  that  his  company  and  counsel  was  gladly  received  by  all.  This 
natural  gift  drew  to  him  a  wide  circle  of  friends,  and  no  preacher  in  our 
ranks  carried   a  larger  following.     He  was  alwavs   foremost  in   arranging 


354  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

and  executing  every  line  of  missionary  work.  His  wise  suggestions  and 
skilful  management  will  be  greatly  missed  in  our  State  work,  but  he  has 
only  gone  to  a  higher  field  of  labor  and  his  works  still  follow  him  in  the 
lives  of  those  he  has  led  to  Christ  and  the  wise  plans  he  lias  laid. 

John  Robert  Winfield 

1820-1899 

John  Robert  Winfield  was  a  native  of  Pantego.  The  following 
was  taken  from  a  sketch  of  his  life  published  in  the  Minutes  of 
the  State  Convention  of  1899. 

Bro.  Winfield 's  educational  advantages  were  only  such  as  the  public 
schools  of  that  day  afforded,  which  were  very  inferior.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  made  profession  of  his  faith  in  Christ,  at  old  Concord  church, 
now  Pantego,  and  was  baptized  by  Elder  T.  J.  Latham.  Having-  seen 
the  light  himself,  he  was  not  content  to  remain  idle  while  so  inany  were 
living  in   darkness,  hence  he  soon  began  to  exercise  his  talents  in  public. 

Bro.  Winfield  entered  the  ministry  at  a  time  when  it  was  very  unpopular 
to  be  known  simply  as  a  disciple  of  Christ.  The  church  and  the  times 
required  men  who  were  familiar  with  the  scriptures,  hence  the  word  of 
God  was  his  daily  companion.  It  was  truly  the  weapon  of  his  warfare. 
He  knew  nothing  else  as  he  knew  the  Bible.  He  preached  his  first  sermon 
in  Concord  church  at  about  21  years  of  age,  and  almost  the  remainder 
of  his  life  was  spent  in  the  gospel  ministry. 

Bro.  Winfield  was  very  modest  and  retiring  in  his  manners,  hence  he 
was  slow  to  adopt  new  methods  in  church  work.  However,  it  is  said  to 
his  credit,  that  he  was  heartily  in  sympathy  with  every  advance  movement 
of  the  church,  and  worked  wherever  he  was  called  or  sent.  In  all  probabil- 
ity he  did  more  preaching  for  less  remuneration  than  any  man  amongst  us. 

Bro.  Winfield  was  first  married  to  Nancy  Saterthaite,  about  the  year 
1850.     Two  children  resulted  from  this  union,  both  of  whom  are  dead. 

He  was  married  a  second  time  in  1856.  The  Lord  blessed  this  union 
with  four  children,  one  of  whom  is  now  living. 

A  third  marriage  occurred  in  1877,  to  Miss  Porter,  of  Pantego,  which 
resulted  in  the  birth  of  seven  children,  five  of  whom  are  now  living.  As 
stated  above,  the  principal  part  of  Bro.  Winfield 's  life  was  given  to  the 
ministry,  and  that  too,  with  little  remuneration,  hence,  when  old  age  and 
affliction  came  on,  ho  found  himself  with  a  large  family,  no  home,  and 
but  little  income.  We  blush  to  record  these  facts  concerning  a  life  spent 
almost  exclusively  in  the  gospel  ministry  as  was  J.  R.  Winfield 's.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  kindness  and  love  of  Pantego  church,  and  a  few  others 
for  whom  he  had  preached  in  former  years,  specially  St.  's  Delight,  his 
latter  days  would  have  been  unpleasantly  spent.  During  the  last  few  years 
of  Bro.  Winfield 's  life  he  was  very  feeble  and  did  but  little  preaching. 
A  short  while  before  the  end  came  he  had  a  stroke  of  paralysis  which 
silenced  his  voice  forever  on  earth. 


MEMOIRS    OP    PAST    LEADERS  dOE) 

Thomas  W.  "Whitley 
1825-1912 

Thomas  W.  Whitley  was  a  native  of  Beaufort  County.  L.  T. 
Rightsell  gave  the  following  memoir  of  him  in  1912. lx 

"He  was  married  three  times,  first  to  Miss  Lula  Ann  Squires 
about  18-15,  next  to  Miss  Caroline  Burgess  and  last  to  Miss 
Mollie  Satchwell.  Brother  "Whitley  was  baptized  about  1857  by 
Amos  J.  Battle,  and  served  many  years  in  the  Christian  min- 
istry. Owing  to  his  advanced  age  and  feebleness,  he  had  not 
engaged  in  active  work  in  many  years.  He  is  survived  by  a 
number  of  children  and  grandchildren.'' 

Notes 

^Minutes,  1907.  :Ibid.,  1922.  3Ibid.,  1892.  "Millennial  Harbinger.  1855, 
page  175.  ^Minutes,  1SS7.  G"Sketches  of  Pitt  County,"  by  Henry  T.  King, 
page  253.  7In  personal  interview  with  the  author.  "Story  current  among 
some  elderly  Disciples  in  Forsythe  County,  which  was  related  to  the 
author.     "Minutes,    1S97.     »Ibid.     "Ibid.,    1012.    page    7. 


APPENDIX  A 

CIRCULAR  LETTER,  READ  AND  ADOPTED  IN  THE  AN- 
NUAL MEETING  OF  BETHEL  CONFERENCE  OF  NORTH 
CAROLINA,    AT    PINEY    GROVE    CHURCH,    SAMPSON 
COUNTY,  NOVEMBER  11-13,  1841 

Dear  Brethren : 

The  professors  of  Christianity  may  he  divided  into  two  classes 
or  parties.  The  one  party  contends  that  the  Christian  Religion 
came  pure  from  the  Holy  Apostles  and  Evangelists — and  that 
it  is  contained  in  the  New  Testament.  The  other  party,  though 
professing  a  belief  in  the  divinity  of  the  scriptures,  contend, 
nevertheless,  that  they  are  not  a  sufficient  rule  of  Faith  and  Dis- 
cipline— and  that  Formulas  of  Discipline,  composed  by  unin- 
spired men,  are  indispensably  necessary,  as  bonds  of  Christian 
union.  Among  the  former  party  I  think  the  brethren,  commonly 
called  Free  Will  Baptists,  may  generally  be  classed.  Indeed 
the  7th  article  of  their  creed,  as  published,  says:  "We  believe 
the  whole  Scriptures  are  true,  and  that  they  are  the  only  rules 
of  Faith,  and  Practice." 

The  object  of  this  address  is  to  enforce  this  article  by  show- 
ing its  accordance  with  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Christians ; 
and  that  all  Christians  can  unite  on  the  Scriptures  and  on  no 
other  bond  of  union. 

That  it  is  according  to  the  practice  of  primitive  Christians. 
See  Acts.  2c  42v.  "And  they  continued  steadfastly  in  the 
Apostles'  doctrine"  etc.  And  the  Apostle  Paul,  addressing  the 
Galatian  Church,  cautions  them  thus:  "But  though  we,  or  an 
angel  from  Heaven,  preach  any  other  Gospel  unto  you  than  that 
which  we  have  preached  unto  you,  let  him  be  accursed.  As  we 
said  before,  so  say  I  now  again,  if  any  man  preach  any  other 
gospel  unto  you,  than  that  you  have  received,  let  him  be  ac- 
cursed. ' '  Gal.,  first  ch.  8  and  9  verses.  Tertullian,  in  his  apology 
for  the  Christians,  written  about  the  end  of  the  second  century, 
says:  "We  are  a  body  within  one  bond  of  religion,  discipline 
and  hopes.  We  meet  in  our  assemblies  for  prayer.  We  are 
compelled  to  have  recourse  to  the  divine  oracles  for  caution  and 


358  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST 

recollection  in  all  occasions.  We  nourish  our  faith  by  the  word 
of  God,"  etc.  See  Justin  Martyr's  Apology.  In  short  it  is  ad- 
mitted on  all  hands,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  that  the  churches 
were  independent  of  each  other,  and  had  no  other  authoritative 
creed  or  discipline  than  the  Scriptures,  until  the  Emperor  Con- 
stantine  convened  the  first  Ecumenical,  or  general  council, 
which  was  held  at  Nice,  A.D.  325.  Since  that  time  creeds  and 
confessions  of  faith,  drawn  up  by  uninspired  men  have  mostly 
influenced  the  professed  Christian  world.  And  what  have  been 
the  consequences?  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  alone  boasts 
of  having  slain  fifty  millions  of  those  whom  she  calls  heretics — 
to  say  nothing  of  the  unchristian  contentions,  murders,  and  wars 
of  the  other  sects  and  denominations  of  Christendom. — Omit- 
ting also  to  notice  particularly  the  many  absurd  and  contradic- 
tory dogmas  which  have  been,  and  are,  even  now,  countenanced 
by  those  who  profess  to  be  Christians. 

All  Christians  can  unite  on  the  Scriptures  as  the  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  and  on  them  alone. 

In  the  17th  chapter  of  John's  Gospel  we  are  informed  that 
our  Savior  prayed:  "That  they  (the  Apostles)  might  all  be 
one,  As  we  (the  Father  and  Son)  are  one."  And  again, 
"neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall 
believe  on  me  through  their  word ;  that  they  all  may  be  one ;  as 
thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one 
in  us;  that  the  wrorld  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me." 
Hence  it  appears — that  the  uniting  of  believers  on  the  word  of 
the  apostles  and  Evangelists,  as  the  basis  of  their  union,  must 
precede  the  faith  and  of  consequence,  the  conversion  of  the 
world.  And  assuredly,  nothing  is  better  calculated  to  blind  the 
understanding  and  harden  the  heart  of  the  unbeliever,  than  the 
present  divided  state  of  Christian  professors. 

Again,  we  have  seen,  that  for  nearly  three  centuries  Chris- 
tian professors  "remained  steadfastly  in  the  Apostles'  doctrine" ; 
that  they  were  "a  body  united  in  one  bond  of  religion,  discipline 
and  hope:"  "having  recourse  to  the  divine  oracles  for  caution 
and  recollection  on  all  occasions,"  etc.  And  yet  we  knowT  that 
during  that  period  Christianity  flourished  in  spite  of  all  the  op- 
position and  persecution  of  Jews  and  heathen.  Why  would  it 
not  flourish  again  if  its  professors  were  again  to  return  to  the 
Apostles'  doctrine,  as  their  rule  of  faith  and  discipline,  laying 


APPENDIX  359 

aside  all  uninspired  creeds,  etc.  and  appealing  in  all  cases  to  the 
Scriptures,  and  to  them  alone? 

Let  us  select  one  or  two  examples  to  illustrate  our  views.  Bap- 
tism is  one  great  source  of  the  unholy  contentions  which  pervade 
Christendom.  Some  professors  contend  that  baptism  means 
either  sprinkling,  pouring,  or  immersion.  Others  contend  that 
it  means  immersion  only.  "Why  cannot  all  unite  on  the  practice 
of  immersion,  as  all  admit  its  correctness ;  and  dispense  with 
sprinkling  and  pouring,  which  some  cannot  conscientiously 
practice  ? 

Another  source  of  contention  is  Calvinistic  predestination. 
What  is  to  be  done  with  him  who  supposes  Calvinism  to  be 
true?  If  his  walk  is  orderly  and  pious,  let  him  not  be  excom- 
municated for  opinion's  sake.  But  if  he  endeavors  to  enforce 
his  opinions  as  a  bond  of  union  or  church  membership,  he  then 
becomes  a  schismatic,  and  should  be  excluded.  Two  persons 
may  be  of  the  one  Faith,  practice  the  one  Baptism,  and  adore  the 
one  Lord,  etc.,  and  yet  differ  in  opinions  on  many  subjects  not 
clearly,  if  at  all,  revealed  in  the  scriptures.  Is  it  necessary  that 
all  should  think  precisely  alike?  Certainly  not.  It  is  prob- 
able no  two  persons  in  Christendom  think  exactly  alike  on  all 
points  respecting  the  Christian  Religion ;  and  of  course  no 
church  could  exist  if  this  were  required. 

That  all  can  unite  on  the  Scriptures,  we  have  endeavored  to 
prove,  so  far  as  the  limits  of  a  circular  will  permit.  That  they 
cannot  unite  on  any  one  sectarian  creed,  needs  no  other  proof 
than  the  present  divided  state  of  Christian  professors. 

Let  us  then,  my  beloved  brethren,  adhere  to  the  divine  or- 
acles, and  endeavor  to  regulate  our  conduct  both  as  members 
of  the  church  of  Christ,  and  as  members  of  society,  according  to 
their  instructions.  Let  us  not  only  at  home  around  our  family 
altars,  but  also  on  every  Lord's  Day  in  our  churches,  continue 
steadfastly  in  the  Apostles'  Doctrine,  etc.  Above  all  things  let 
us  abound  in  Love,  without  which  Christian  profession  is  vain. 
Yours  in  Gospel  bonds, 

Thomas  J.  Latham. 


360  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 


APPENDIX  B 

HISTORICAL  COMPENDIUM  OF  STATE  CONVENTIONS, 
DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA 

Bethel  Conference  of  North  Carolina 

I  Year — Church — County — Presiding  Officer — 
'1811 — Piney  Grove,  Sampson,  Winsor  Dixon. 

1842— Welehe's  Creek,  Martin,  Thos.  J.  Latham. 

1843 — Wheat  Swamp,  Lenoir,  Winsor  Dixon. 

1844 — Hookerton,  Greene,  Thos.  J.  Latham.  "7 

Bethel  Conference  and  Union  Meeting  of  Disciples  of 
Christ  in  North  Carolina 

1845 — Piney  Grove,  Sampson,  John  L.  Clifton. 
1846 — Post  Oak,  Craven,  Winsor  Dixon. 
1847 — Pleasant  Hill,  Jones,  Thos.  J.  Latham. 
1848— Mill  Creek,  Johnston,  Thos.  J.  Latham. 
1849 — Kinston,  Lenoir,  Reuben  Barrow. 
1850— Rountree's  Pitt,  Thos.  J.  Latham. 
1851 — Oak  Grove,  Greene,  Thos.  J.  Latham. 
1852— Elm  Grove,  Pitt,  Thos.  J.  Latham. 
1853 — Wheat  Swamp,  Lenoir,  Thos.  J.  Latham. 

Annual  Meeting  of  Disciples  of  Christ  in  North  Carolina 

1854 — Rose  of  Sharon,  Lenoir,  A.  J.  Battle. 
1855 — Kinston,  Lenoir,  A.  J.  Battle. 
1856 — Chinquapin  Chapel,  Jones,  Jno.  L.  Clifton. 
1857— Antioeh,  Pitt,  Jno.  P.  Dunn. 

Annual  Conference  of  Disciples  of  Christ 
in  North  Carolina 

1858 — Wheat  Swamp,  Lenoir,  Peter  E.  Hines. 
1859— Elm  Grove,  Pitt,  Peter  E.  Hines. 
1860 — Oak  Grove,  Greene,  Peter  E.  Hines. 
1861 — Hookerton,  Greene,  Wm.  Dixon. 
1862— Pleasant  Hill,  Jones,  Peter  E.  Hines. 


APPENDIX  361 

1863 — Wheat  Swamp,  Lenoir,  Gideon  Allen. 
1864 — Hookerton,  Greene,  Josephus  Latham. 
1865— Rountree's,  Pitt,  Jacob  McCotter. 
1866— Fellow's  Chapel,  Pitt,  H.  D.  Cason. 
1867— Corinth,  Pitt,  Gideon  Allen. 
1868 — Wheat  Swamp,  Lenoir,  Gideon  Allen. 
1869— Fellow's  Chapel,  Pitt,  Gideon  Allen. 
3870— Oak  Grove,  Pitt,  Gideon  Allen. 
1871— Antioch,  Pitt,  Gideon  Allen. 
1872 — Kinston,  Lenoir,  Gideon  Allen. 

Annual  Convention  of  Disciples  of  Christ 
in  North  Carolina 

1873— Hookerton,  Greene,  Jno.  T.  Walsh. 

1874— Oak  Grove,  Pitt,  Jno.  T.  Walsh. 

1875— Corinth,  Pitt,  Gideon  Allen. 

1876 — Wheat  Swamp,  Lenoir,  Jno.  T.  Walsh. 

1877— Salem,  Pitt,  H.  D.  Harper. 

1878— Robersonville,  Martin,  H.  D.  Harper. 

1879 — Kinston,  Lenoir,  H.  D.  Harper. 

1880— Bethel,  Lenoir,  Jno.  T.  Walsh. 

1881— Robersonville,  Martin,  Jno.  T.  Walsh. 

1882— Timothy  Chapel,  Pitt,  J.  J.  Harper. 

1883— Antioch,  Pitt,  J.  J.  Harper. 

North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Convention 

1884— Wheat  Swamp,  Lenoir,  Jno.  T.  Walsh. 
1885 — Rountree's,  Pitt,  Geo.  Joyner. 
1886— Salem,  Pitt,  J.  J.  Harper. 
1887— Oak  Grove,  Pitt,  J.  J.  Harper. 
1888— Old  Ford,  Beaufort,  J.  J.  Harper. 
1889 — LaGrange,  Lenoir,  C.  W.  Howard. 
1890— Hookerton,  Greene,  E.  A.  Moye. 
1891 — New  Bern,  Craven,  W.  W.  Farmer. 
1892— Grifton,  Pitt,  W.  W.  Farmer. 
1893— Washington,  Beaufort,  H.  Winfield. 
1894— Kinston,  Lenoir,  J.  L.  Winfield. 
1895— Farmville,  Pitt,  J.  J.  Harper. 
1896 — Washington,  Beaufort,  J.  J.  Harper. 


362  NORTH    CAROLINA   DISCIPLES   OF    CHRIST 

1897 — Pantego,  Beaufort,  W.  J.  Crumpler. 
1898— Salem,  Pitt,  W.  J.  Crumpler. 
1899— Wilson,  Wilson,  J.  J.  Harper. 
1900— Ayden,  Pitt,  J.  J.  Harper. 
1901 — Kinston,  Lenoir,  J.  J.  Harper. 
1902— Wilson,  Wilson,  J.  J.  Harper. 
1903— Greenville,  Pitt,  E.  A.  Move. 
1904 — Washington,  Beaufort,  E.  A.  Move. 
1905 — La  Grange,  Lenoir,  E.  A.  Move. 
1906— Dunn,  Harnett,  E.  A.  Moye. 
1907 — Bemaven,  Beaufort,  A.  B.  Cunningham. 
1908 — Kinston,  Lenoir,  J.  W.  Hines. 
1909— Wilson,  Wilson,  J.  W.  Hines. 
1910— Washington,  Beaufort,  J.  W.  Hines. 
1911— Ayden,  Pitt,  J.  W.  Hines. 
1912— Farmville,  Pitt,  J.  W.  Hines. 
1913 — Ashville,  Buncombe,  J.  W.  Hines. 
1914— Greenville,  Pitt,  J.  W.  Hines. 
1915 — Pantego,  Beaufort,  J.  W.  Hines. 
1916 — Kinston,  Lenoir,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1917— Wilson,  Wilson,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1918— Greenville,  Pitt,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1919 — Robersonville,  Martin,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1920— Goldsboro,  Wayne,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1921— Greenville,  Pitt,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1922— Belha ven,  Beaufort,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1923— Raleigh,  Wake,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1924— Dunn,  Harnett,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1925— Wilson,  Wilson,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1926— New  Bern,  Craven,  W.  C.  Manning. 
1927 — Kinston,  Lenoir,  Richard  Bagby. 


APPENDIX  363 

APPENDIX  C 

STATE  MISSIONARY  SECRETARIES 

The  table  below  is  a  register  of  Corresponding  Secretaries  of 
the  State  Missionary  Service  of  North  Carolina  Disciples  of 
Christ  for  the  last  fifty  years.  It  is  to  be  noted  twenty-two  men 
have  served.  There  is  some  overlapping  of  years  as  given  for 
some  secretarial  terms.  The  Secretary  who  gave  the  annual  re- 
port at  the  Annual  Convention  is  in  each  instance  named  as  the 
Secretary  for  that  year. 

North  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Society 
Period  Secretary 

1877  John  T.  Walsh. 

1878  John  J.  Harper. 
1879-1882     C.  W.  Howard. 
1883              John  J.  Harper. 


storth  Carolina  Christian  Missionary  Convention 

1884-1885- 

—John  J.  Harper. 

1886-1887 

C.  W.  Howard. 

1888 

H.  D.  Harper. 

1889 

J.  R,  Tingle. 

1890-1891 

H.  C.  Bowen. 

1892 

W.  J.  Grumpier. 

1893 

I.  L.  Chestnut t. 

1894 

T.  W.  Phillips. 

1895 

P.  S.  Swain. 

1896 

T.  W.  Phillips. 

1897 

A.  S.  Kelly. 

1898 

F.  F.  Dawson. 

1899-1902 

B.  H.  Melton. 

1903 

J.  D.  Waters. 

1904 

L.  T.  Rightsell 

1905-1906 

J.  B.  Jones. 

1907-1908 

W.  G.  Walker. 

1909-1910 

C.  Manly  Morton. 

1911-1912 

H.  C.  Boblett. 

1913 

W.  C.  Manning. 

1914 

J.  Fred  Jones. 

1915-1927 

Chas.  C.  Ware. 

INDEX 


A 


Abbott,  B.   A.,   13,   51 

Abbott,  Peyton,  274 

Abbott,  Thomas,  51 

Academy  of  Science,  35 

Adams,  James  B.,  244 

Alamance  Church,  28 

Albritton,  James,  240,  242 

Alderman,   Edwin  A.,   233 

Allen,  Gideon,  111,  115,  158,  159,  179 

Alphine,  Jesse,  81 

American  Advocate,  303 

American   Bible    Society,   34,    195 

American   Christian    Preacher,    205 

American  Christian  Review,  127 

Anderson,  John,  31 

Ange,  Frances,  256 

Ange,  Malachi,  257 

Ange,   Silas,   2G9 

Ange,   Wiley,    256 

Applewhite,  Jonathan,  170 

Arnold,  D.  W.,  172 

Atlantic,    Christian    College,    13,    164, 

168,  174,  213,  232,  311 
Aycock,  Charles  B.,  162 
Avers,   Stanley,   254 
Azbell,  Miss  Myrtle,  155 


B 


Bagby,  Richard,  202 

Baker,  Abram,  273 

Baker,   Thos.  C,   96 

Ball,  J.  T.,  130 

Banner  of  Christ,  209 

Banner  of  the  Faith,  20S 

Baldree,  Isaac,  86 

Baptists,  39,  40,  58,  60,  75,  77,  78 

Barclay,  John,  202 

Barnes,    Bennett,    130 

Barrett,  Adam,  120 

Barrett,  G.  W.,  165 

Barrington,  Jesse  L.,  266 

Barrington,  Wm.,  265 

Barrow,  Reuben,  92,  93,   159,  262 

Barwick,  C.  T.,  130 

Basnight,  T.  J.,  166 

Basnight,  J.   S.,   173 

Battle,   Amos   J.,   103,   104,   113,    122, 

178,  187,  224,  263,  269,  305 
Bay  Creek  Church,  269 
Beaver  Dam  Church,  269 


Bell,  J.  IT.,  130 

Bennett,  Mark,  100 

Bennett,  Philemon,  43 

Best,  T.  T.,  120 

Bethany  Church   (Pamlico),  270 

Bethany  College,  66,  67 

Bethel  Conference,  86,  91,   92,  98 

Bible  Schools,  60,  219,  220,  221 

Bible  Thinker,  209 

Bible  Questions,  21S 

Biblical  Monthly,  20S 

Biblical  Recorder,  69,  99 

Biddle,  Wm.  P.,  87 

Biggs,  Joseph,  269,  273 

Billings,  Dr.,  75 

Bishop,  J.  C,  166 

Bishop,  J.  F.,  212 

Bissell,   W.   Q.,   272 

Blount,  G.   S.,  271 

Blunt,  John,  42 

Blvthe,  James,  34 

Bond,  Dean  L.,  200 

Bond,  Robert,  81,  91,  92,  93,  96,  110, 

242,   257,   260,   277 
Boone,  Col.  Daniel,  25 
Bowen,  H.  C,  138,  140,  141,  145,  151, 

153,  168,  210,  211,  212,  218,  264, 

296 
Bowen,  Thos.  H.,  216 
Bowen,  Wm.  J.,  113 
Boyette,  Cola,  275 
Braxton,  Levi,  81,  240 
Breckinridge,  John,  37 
Brinkley,  Jonas,  274 
Brinson,  J.  J.,  212 
Britt,  Thomas,  275 
Britten,  George,  250,  252 
Broad  Creek  Church,  265-267 
Brock,  J.,  82 
Broughton,  Ab.,  270 
Broughton,  W.  W.,  270 
Brown,   Benj.,   257,   276 
Brown,  Cyrus,   130,  257 
Brown,  II.',  140 
Brown,   Henry  T.,  253 
Brown,  Isaac',  183,  317 
Brown,  J.  T.,  183 
Brown,  Wm.,  257 
Bruton,  Col.  J.  F.,  170 
Bryant,  Mrs.  Dorothea,  65 
Bryant,  Stephen  K.,  275 
Billiard,  Dr.  Chester,  51,  101,  117,  274 


365 


366 


INDEX 


Burns,  J.  L.,  115,  119,  129,  130,  131, 

139,  140,   141,   151,   169 
Burgess,  Daniel  L.,  248 
Burgess,  Mrs.   0.   A.,   154 
Bush,  Pendell,  212 
Butler  College,  52 
Butler,  James  A.,  186,  206 
Buxton,  Joseph   B.,  269 
Buxton,    Samuel,   82 
Bynum,  B.  A.,  165 


Caldwell,   Dr.    David,    26,   27,   28,    35 

Caldwell,  Joseph,  42 

Caldwell,  J.  C,   174 

Calvanistic  Baptists,  80 

Campbell,   Alexander,   41,   44,  52,  57, 

59,   63,   64,   65,   66,   67,   101,   264 
Campbell,  G.  Calvin,  228 
Campbell,  McCalla  Debate,  58 
Campbell,  Moses   W.,   262 
Campbell,  Thomas,  41,  57,  59,  61,  62, 

247 
Campbell,  William,  66,  247 
Cane  Ridge,  31,  36,  48,  79 
Canfield,   O.,   86 
Cannon,  Caleb,  168,  276 
Cannon,  Jesse,  168 
Carolina   Christian  College,   167 
Carolina  Christian  Publishing  Co.,  213 
Carolina  Christian  Monthly,  114,  208 
Carolina  Institute  &  Bible   Seminary, 

169 
Carawan,  L.  C,  202 
Carr,  Matt     H.,  272 
Carr,  B.  A.  L.,  166 
Carrow,  John,   Sr.,  244,  246 
Carrow,  Samuel  T.,  248 
Caruthers,  Eli  W.,  29 
Case,  Perry,  202 
Caskey,   Thos.  W.,  293 
Cason,  H.  D.,  103,  158,  159,  216,  224 
Caton,  Moses,  269 
Caudle,  L.,  272 
Chestnutt,   I.   L.,   106,   140,   145,   153, 

165,  168,  210,  288 
Chinquapin  Chapel,  270 
Christian  Banner,  101 
Christian  Baptist,  188,  203,  207 
Christian  Endeavor,  221,  222 
Christian    Friend,    95,    158,    196,    206 
Christian  Guide,  183 
Christian  Hope  Church,  178 
Christian  Intelligencer,  110,  117 
Christian  Mentor,  218 
Christian  Messenger,  204 
Christian  Preacher,  207 
Christian  Standard,  210 
Christian  Union-  cj-  Seligious  Bevtew, 

110,    204 


Christian  Visitor,  212 
Christian  WeeMy,  210 
Christian  Woman 's  Board  of  Missions, 

150 
Christian  Worker,  212,  214 
Chowan   Association   Baptist,   61,   99, 

101 
Civils,   Vincent,   271 
Clark,  Gen.  Wm,  64,  82,  86 
Clav,   Henry,   41 
Clifton,  Joel,  91 
Clifton,   J.  L.,   96,   216,   275 
Clopton,  Abner  W.,  42,  43 
Coggins,  J.  C,  173 
Coleman,  E.  L.,  67,  101,  110 
Columbian  College,  43 
Concord  Church    (Beaufort),  244-249 
Concord  Church    (Pamlico),  267,  268 
Congelton,  Abraham,   65,  82,   86,  292 
Connor,  Judge,  H.  G.,  170 
Cooke,   Homer  F.,  219 
Corv,  Dr.,  221 
Coss,  J.  F.,  210 
Cotten,   Bruce,   13 
Coward,  J.  H.,  Jr.,  130 
Cowling,  Ira  E.,  200 
Cox,  James  W.,  262 
Cox,   Jordan,   96 
Craig,  A.  M.,  100 
Crane,  Thurston,  121 
Creath,  Jacob,  Jr.,  26,  39,  40,  41,  42, 

44 
Creath,  Jacob,  Sr.,  26,  39,  40,  41,  42 
Creath,  J.  W.  D.,  42 
Credle,  F.  X.,  202 
Creekman,  John,  98 
Crumpler,  W.  J.,  218,  222 
Cunningham,  A.  B.,  211 

D 

Dail,  Dickerson,  98 

Daniel,  Robert  T.,  43 

Daniels,  Hon.  Josephus,  162 

Davenport,  H.  S.,  140 

Davidson,  60 

Davis,    D.    W.,    138,    140,    141,    169, 

210,  337,   346 
Davis,  Jesse  T.,  106,  153,  161,  257 
Davis,   T.   C,   166 
Davis,  S.  L.,  224 
Desmond,  James  S.,  S6 
Dillahunt,   J.   H.,   15S,   159,   271,   319 
Disciples   Advocate,    187,    207,    277 
Dixon,  Benj.,  240,  242 
Dixon,  Miss  Fanny  May,  155 
Dixon,  Dr.  Frank  W..  104,  128,  129, 

130,  146,  160,  161,   198 
Dixon,  Mrs.   Frank  W.,   89,   150,   152 
Dixon,   James   S.,   130 
Dixon,  Dr.  Joseph,  108,  276 


INDEX 


367 


Dixon,  Josiab,  129,  130,  183 

Dixon,  Mrs.  Neppie  L.,   150 

Dixon,  William,   158 

Dixon,  Winsor,  92,  95,  158,  240,  242 

Dooley,  Eeuben,  38 

Dossey,  William,  42 

Dover,  Bapt.  Association,  59 

Doylestown  Academy,  70 

Downey,  Mrs.  C.   X.,   175 

Draughan,  J.  W.,  129,  183 

Draughan,  Mrs.  Eunice  M.,  130 

Draughan,  Mrs.  Sue  Helen,  147,  151. 
152,  153 

Draughan,  Wm.  F.,  130 

Duncan,  Landon,  51 

Dunn,  John  P.,  65,  66.  82,  86,  87, 
96,  99,  109,  125,  157,  158,  177, 
1S5,  242,  257,  260,  275,  292 

Dunn,  Walter,  86,  260 

Dunn,  William,  266 

Dunlavy,  John,  32 

Dupree,  John,  186 

Dupree,  J.  F.,  264 

DuVal,  J.,  197 

E 

Eborn,  B.  F.,  86 
Eborn,  Wm.  A.,  249 

Edenton,   58 
Edwards,  Morgan,  78 
Edmundson,  Haywood,  170 
Episcopalians,  60 
Errett,  Isaac,  21,  218 
Erwin,  James  D.,  69 
Erwin,  Wm.  B.,  69 
Etheredge,  D.  V.,  100 
Evangel,  212 
Everett,  Thomas,  269 

F 

Fagg,  Mrs.  Jane  L.,  121 

Faircloth,  Mrs.  F.  M.,  150 

Fanning,   Tolbert,   120 

Farish,  Haves,   202 

Farmer,  W."  W..  166 

Fellows  Chapel,   271 

Female   Institute,   158 

Ferguson,  Bobert,  50,  51 

Finley,  Bobert   W.,   37 

Flowers.  J.  B.,  269 

Flynn,   Wm.   F.,  248 

Fo'nville,   Frederick,    81 

Foote,  William  Henrv,  34 

Fordham,  W.  G.,  Sr.,  257 

Foster,  Bobert,  31 

Foy,   J.   H.,   129,   130,   146.   160,   161. 

162,  179,  189,  209,  214,  224,  225, 

228,  263 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  127 


Free  Will  Baptists,  46,  66,  77,  78,  84, 

93,  97 
Fulshire,  Wm.  B.,  96 

G 
Gano,  John,  79 
Garber,  Dr.  Baul  X.,  14 
Gardner,  C.,  271 
Gardner,  Wm.  C,  96,  256 
Garfield,  James  A.,  97 
Gaskins,  Alfred,  166 
Gay,  Jno.   W.,   124 
Gavlord,  James  W.,  247,  248 
Gavlord,  John  B.,  96,  110,  196,  257, 

261,  262,  266,  336 
Gazette-Messenger,  323 
General  Baptists,  77,  78 
Giles.  E.   S.  F.,  97,  257,  260,  261 
Goodloe,  W.  H.,  127 
Gold,  P.   D.,   170 
Gooding,   Isaac,   257 
Gooding,   Stephen,  257 
Gooding,  Wm.,  257 
Gorman,  Edwin,  86 
Gorman,  Mrs.  Fannie  A.,  130 
Gospel  Advocate,   120,   182 
Gospel  Proclamation,  204 
Grainger,  Mrs.  C.  A.  D.,  13,  150,  152 
Grassy  Creek,  39,  40,  42 
Great  Bevival,  41 
Green,  David  J.,  271 
Green,  F.  F.,  271 
Green,   F.  M.,  138 
Green,  Geo.  D.,  170 
Greene,  Thomas,  212 
Grimslev,  W.  P.,  159 
Grubbs,'  J.   T.,  106,  170 
Grundy,  Felix,   37 
Guilford  College,  60 
Guirey,   William,   46 
Gunter,  Bichard,   91 
Gurganus,  Henry,  224,  294 
Gurganus,  John  M.,  97,  178,  256 
Gurganus,  Joseph,   296 
Guy,  Joseph,  35 

H 

Haeknev,  George,   130,   170.   173,  212 
Hall,  Alexander  W.,  204 
Hall,  Dr.  B.  F.,  57,  58,  59 
Hall,  Dr.  James,  33,  34,  35,  36 
Hall,  Preston  Bell,  211 
Hampden-Sidnev  College,  27 
Hargett.  J.  B.,'271 
Harper,  Dr.  H.  D.,  115,  130,  133,  140, 

146,   161,   21S,  264,   340 
Harper,  J.  J..  13,  114,  115.  129,  130. 

134,  135,  139,  140,  160,  165,  172. 

179,  1S4,  209,  210,  212,  254.  257, 

264,  2S3,  328,  330,  334,  343 


368 


INDEX 


Harper,  James,  M.,  262 

Harper,  J.  V.,  134,  140 

Harper,  J.  W.,  130,  137,  217 

Harris,  Edward,  35 

Hart,  A.  C.,  106,  151,  224,  225 

Hart,  Barram,  130 

Hartsfield,    David,    240 

Hartsfield,  Dr.  Jacob,  159 

Hartsfield,  Lewis,   240 

Hassell,   Gushing   Biggs,   83 

Hawfields  Church,  30,  46,  48 

Hawkins,  W.  M.,  271 

Hayes,  John,  91,  240 

Hearne,  Bufus  K.,  78 

Heath,  Jeremiah,  81,  92,  98 

Heath,  Jesse,  92,  240 

Heath,  William,  257 

Helwys,  Thomas,  77 

Henderson,  Judge  Richard,  25 

Hilley,  H.  S.,  174 

Hines,  J.  W.,  141,  173 

Hines,  Peter  E.,  178,  216,  257 

Historical  Commission,   13 

Hodge,  William,  28,  29,  46 

Hodges,  J.  W.,   138,  165 

Hodges,  Louis  H.,  273 

Hodges,  Simon  E.,  130,  183 

Hodges,  B.  T.,  128 

Hoggard,  J.  N.,  100 

Holcomb,  H.  D.,  120 

Holliday,  Mrs.  McD.,  13 

Holloway,  Zaehariah,  50 

Holmes/ Samuel,  30,  32 

Holton,  A.  J.,  130,  142,  146,  266,  306 

Holton,  A.  B.,  168 

Holton,  Enoch,  92,  265,  266 

Holton,  Isaac,  287 

Holton,  J.  B.,  266 

Hood,  IST.   B.,   166 

Hooker,  Mrs.  Pattie,  150 

Hooker,  Dr.  B.,  186 

Hookerton  Church,  240-244 

Hope,  B.   V.,   219 

Hopson,  Dr.  Winthrop  H,  119 

Houston,  Matthew,  32 

Howard,  C.  W.,  13,  106,  129,  130,  136, 

140,  145,  165,  168,  1S3,  218,  264 
Howell,  Peter,  103 
Howell,  R,  B.  C,  57 
Huffman,  J.  W.,  130 
Hughart,  Dr.  Wm.  H.,  118,  125,  159, 

187,  196,  244 
Hughes,  James,  52 
Humber,  O.  P.,  104 
Hunnicutt,  James  W.,  SI,  101 


Isler,  W.  B.,  166 


Jackson,  D.   E,,  264 

Jackson,  Levi,  Jr.,  183 

James,  J.  J.,   100 

Jarman,  Emanuel,  257 

Jarman,  Job  L.,  276 

Jarman,   John,  97,   257,   260 

Jarman,  M.,  276 

Johnson,  P.  H.,  134 

Johnston,   John   T.,   43,   45,   51 

Johnston,  Major  O.,  51 

Johnston,  W.  G.,  13,  51,  172,  2] 2 

Jolly,  Henry,   276 

Jones,  Abner,  52 

Jones,  Irvin,  104,  106 

Jones,  James  B.,  274 

Jones,  John  P.,  98,  240 

Jones,  Dr.  B.  IL,  212 

Jordan,  William  Hill,  100 

Joyner,  Charles,   109,  275 

Jovner,  George,  99,  104,  125,  139,  158, 

160,  204,  206,  244,  263,  264,  266, 

270,   302,   330 
Joyner,  Joel,  Jr.,  95,  272 
Joyner,   Wm.,   142 


Keel,  Irvin  N.,  130 

Keel,  Nathaniel,  250 

Keel,  Theophilus,  130,  137 

Kelmkee  Association,  82 

Kilpatrick,   Miss  Mary,   155 

King,  C.  C,  130 

King,  Henry  T.,  210 

King,  Bev.  Richard,  34,  35,  112,  140 

King,  Dr.  R.  W.,  160,  209,  215,  262 

Kinsev,    Joseph,    128,    130,    161,    163, 

164,   170,   172,   257 
Kinston,  51,  82,  110 
Kinston  Church,  259-265 
Kinston   Female   Seminarv,   160 
Kirkpatrk-k,    W.    C,    207' 
Koonce,   John,   82 
Koonce,  Z.   T.,  271 
Kurfees,   Marshall   C,   121,   274 


L 


Lamar,  J.  S.,  21 

Land,  M.  D.,  130 

Langston,   Uriah,   272 

LaPrade,  W.  T.,  202 

Latham,   Augustus,   Jr.,    181,   1S2 

Latham,  James  F.,  97 

Latham,  Josephus,  99,  109,  115,  139, 
146,  158,  159,  160,  165,  178,  179, 
209,  214,  254,  257,  258,  297,  307, 
320 

Latham,  J.  G.,  212 


INDEX 


369 


Latham,  Thomas  J.,  66,  86,  92,  97 

158,  194,  2-14,  246,  247,  248, 

269,~  285,  299 
Latham,  Wm.,  97 
Leary,   W.,   100 
Lee,   Aaron,   272 
Leggett,  Daniel,  252 
Leggett,  Jeremiah,   82,   86,   250, 

273,   276 
Leggett,   John   A.,    86,    97,    159, 

223,  252,  253,  273 
Lehman,  J.  B.,  227 
Lehman,  P.  T.,  120 
Leighton,  A.  F.,  172 
Lester,  Henry,  39 
Lewis,  H.  D.,  275 
Lewis,  James  R.,  97 
Lewis,  Oates  L.,  275 
Lightfoot,  William,  43 
Lipscomb,  David,  120,  182 
Living  Age,  137 
Lockheart,   Nathaniel,   81 
Loftin,  A.  J.,  217,  263,   264 
Loftin,    F.    B.,    82 
Lucas,  Silas,  170 
Lutherans,    60 

M 

McAden,  Hugh,  40 
Me  Arthur,  Daniel,  273 
MeGounds,  William,  97,  242 
McGee,  William,  31 
McGready,  James,  27,  28 
MeNemar,  Richard,   32,   37 
McRevnolds,  Benjamin,  27 
Mallard,  Miss  Alice,   160 
Manire,  B.  F.,  207 
Manning,   A.   J.,   13,   168 
Manning,  Joseph,  61,   64 
Manning,  W.   G,   13 
Marshall,  Daniel,  40 
Marshall,   Robert,   32 
Martin,  J.  B.,  166 
Mastin,   Jeremiah,   269 
Mattox,  W.  T.,  13 
Mattox,  Mrs.  W.  T.,  14 
May,  James   W.,   113 
May,  Mrs.  Turner,  150 
Mav,  Wm.,  106,  243 
Meiton,  B.  IL,  172,  173,  339 
Memoirs : 

Allen,    G.,    281-2 

Ayers,  S.,  282 

Battle,  A.  J.,  283-5 

Bond,  R.,  285-6 

Bowen,  H.  C.,  286-7 

Bowen,  T.   H.,  287 

Burns,  J.  L.,  288 

Cason,  H.  D.,  288-90 

Clark,  Mrs.  L.  P.  L.,  290 


,99, 

257, 


216, 


Memoirs — Cont  'd 

Clark,  Gen.  W.,  291-4 
Coltrain,  J.  J.,  294-5 
Chestnutt,  I.  L.,  295 
Davenport,  H.  S.,  295-6 
Davis,  D.  W.,  296 
Davis,  S.  L.,  297 
Dillahunt,  J.  H.,  297-8 
Dixon,   J.   H.,  299 
Dixon,  Mrs.   P.   L.,   299 
Dixon,  Mrs.  S.  R,,  300 
Dixon,  W.,  301 
Draughan,  Mrs.  S.  H.,  301-2 
Dunn,  J.  P.,  302-4 
Dunn,  Mrs.   T.,  304 
Foy,  J.  H.,  304-6 
Fuleher,  W.  R,,  306-7 
Gaylord,  J.  B.,  307 
Green,  T.,  308 
Grubbs,  J.  T.,  308 
Gurganus,  H.  S.,  309 
Gurganus,  J.   M.,   309-10 
Gurganus,  J.  G.,  310-11 
Hardison,  J.  W.,  311 
Harper,  J.  J.,  311-14 
Harper,  Dr.  H.  D.,  314 -15 
Hart,  A.  C,  315-16 
Hines,  P.  E.,  316 
Heath,  W.,  317 
Holton,  I.  P.,  317-18 
Holton,  J.  W.  P.,  318-19 
Jarman,   J.,  319 
Jarvis,  M.  F.,  320 
Jones,  I.,  320-1 
Jones,  J.,  Benj.,  321-2 
Joyner,  G.,  322-3 
Latham,  A.,  Jr.,  323-4 
Latham,  J.,  325 
Latham,  T.  J.,  326-7 
Leggett,  J.  A.,  327 
Leighton,   A.   F.,    327-8 
Lewis,  J.  R.,  328-9 
Manning,  A.   J.,  329-30 
Miller,  D.  H.,  330 
Move,   A.,    330-2 
Move,   E.   A.,   332 
Move,  M.  T.,  333-5 
Parrott,  B.,   335-6 
Powell,  J.,  336 
Respess,   J.   B.,   336-7 
Smith,   H.,  337-9 
Stancill,   R,   W.,   339-40 
Statzer,  E.  K.,   340-1 
Sumerlin,  L.  D.,  341-3 
Swain,   P.    S.,    344-5 
Sumrell,   S.   W.,   345-6 
Trotman,   J.   W.,   346-7 
Walsh,  Dr.  J.  T.,  347-9 
Williams,  W.  R.,  349-50 


370 


INDEX 


Memoirs — Cont  'd 

Wilson,  V.  A.,  350-1 

Winfield,  H.,  352 

Winfield,  J.  L.,  353-4 

Winfield,  J.  E,,  354 

Whitley,  T.  W.,  355 
Mercer,   Jesse,   283 
Meredith,  Thomas,  58,  59,  61,  62,  63, 

65,  69 
Messianic  Banner,  208 
Messick,  E.  E.,  120 
Methodists,   46,   60 
Mewborne,   James   M.,    131,    140,   264 
Mill  Creek  Church,  42,  271 
Miller,  Benjamin,   79 
Millenial  Harbinger,  67,  69,  70,   188, 

204,  290,  304 
Missionary  Tidings,  155 
Missionary  Weekly,  212 
Mitchell,  Nathan  J.,  52 
Mizelle,  W.  H.,  210 
Mobley,  Willie  T.,  97 
Mohorter,  J.  H.,  200 
Moore,  Alfred,  98 
Moore,   C,   271 
Moore,  Isaac,  262 

Moore,  James,  81,  107,  240,  241,  257 
Moore,  Jesse,  274 
Moore,   Beading,   81 
Moore,  Thomas,  240 
Moore,  Wiley,  256 
Moore,  Wright  T.,  202 
Moravians,    60 

Morton,  Clement  Manly,   201 
Motley,  D.  E.,   141,   171,   172 
Mt.  Nebo  Church,   119 
Moye,   Abraham  D.,   159 
Moye,  Alfred,  109,  112,  124,  125,  129, 

130,    159,    168,    172,    177 
Moye,  E.  A.,  139,  140,  173 
Moye,  Moses   T.,   115,   140,   142,   155, 
'  165,  168,  179,  209,  258,  263,  281, 
349 
Murphy,  G.,  271 
Murrill,   H.   D.,    130 
Murton,  John,  77 
Myers,  N.  D.,  130,   192,  264 

N 

Nash,  Bushrod  W.,  101,  107,  109 

Neely,   Washington,    119 

Neville,  J.  P.,  99,  112,  158,  159,  176, 

261 
New   Bern,   70 
Nieoll,  Mrs.   S.  C,   130,  153 
Nisbet,  James,  35 

North  Carolina  Baptist  Interpreter,  34 
North  Carolina  Christian,  213,  299 
North   Carolina   Christian  Missionary 

Society,    129 


North    Carolina    Institute,    60 
North   Carolina    State   Bible    Societv, 

34 
Nobles,  Willie,  86,  97,  271 
Nnnn,  Miss  Etta,  155,  156 


O 


Oak  Grove  Church    (Greene),  272 

Oak  Grove  Church    (Pitt),  250-255 

Oden,   Horace,   113 

Oettinger,  Jonas,  170 

O'Kane,   John,    51 

O 'Kelly,  James,  46,  47,   52,   91 

Old  Ford  Church,  273 

Oliphant,    D.,    208 

Oliver,  Francis,   82 

Omer,  Mrs.  L.  M.,  155 

Orange  Presbvtery,   60 

Orvis,  E.  E.,  110,  136,  204,  264 

Orvis,  Miss  Mary  Irene,  155,  201 

Owen,  J.   F.,  212 


Paine,   Tom,  34 

Palmer,  Paul,   79,   80 

Parker,   Joseph,   79,   80 

Parker,  William,  79,  80 

Parrott,  Benj.,  97,  99,  159,  242,  277 

Parrott,  Jacob,  260,  261 

Parrott,  James  W.,  262 

Parrott,  John  A.,  260 

Pattillo,  Henry,  28,  30,  46 

Paul,   J.   P.,   270 

Pearre,  Mrs.  Caroline  Neville,  150 

Perry,  James  M.,  169 

Petree,  D.   II.,   172,  210,   212 

Pfafftown  Church,  273,  274 

Pickens,  Gov.  Israel,  34 

Pierce,   John,   166 

Piney  Grove  Church,  275 

Pipkin,  Isaac,  81 

Pipkin,  Philip,  158,  270 

Pittman,  Judge  Thomas  M.,  14 

Pittsburg  Presbyterian  Synod,  63 

Plattenburg,  George,  207 

Pleasant  Hill  Academy,  258 

Pleasant  Hill  Church,   257,  258 

Plummer,  Frederick,  47 

Poindexter,  Eiehard,   119 

Pollock,  James  B.,  130,  271 

Powell,  John,  97 

Powell,  Menan  P.,  159 

Presbyterian   Church,   31,   32,   33,   36, 

39,  43,  47,   60 
Proctor,  Alexander,  45 
Pugh,    J.    D.,    212 
Purviance,  David,  26,  32,  33,  34,  35. 

36,  37,  38 
Purviance,   Levi,   35 


INDEX 


371 


Q 


Quakers,   (50 ' 
Quarterly,   209 
Quick,  E.   B.,   219 

R 

Raleigh,   60 

Ratcliff,   Ephraim,   244,   240 

Respess,  John  B.,  158,  159,  224,  268 

Restoration   Movement,    6(5 

Reynolds,  G.  A.,  141 

Rhem,  Wm,  260 

Richardson,  N.  S.,  130,  137,  140,  213 

Rightsell,  L.   T.,   212 

Ringold,  John,  272 

Rives,  Thomas,  98 

Roach,  James,  80,  92,  267 

Roberson,   Henry,  250,   252 

Robert,  M.  M., '69 

Robinson,    Henry,    204 

Robinson,  J.   R.,   181,   209 

Rochelle,  James,   J.,   100 

Roebuck,   Thomas,   254 

Rogers,    Samuel,    52 

Rogerson,    William,    276 

Roman  Catholics,  60 

Rose,    W.   N.,    272 

Rountree,  Mrs.  Alice  E.,  130,  146 

Rountree,  Charles,  J.,  82 

Rountrees  Church,  275 

Rountree,  Geo.  E.,  263 

Rountree,  Jesse,  275 

Rountree,   S.   H.,    140,   161,   225,   275 

Rountree,   Wm.    H.,    130 

Rouse,   Mrs.    Eliza,    130 

Rouse,  Noah,  129,  130,  166,  264 

Rouse,  Mrs.  Noah,  152 

Rowe,  Jere,  81 

Rutledge,  G.  P.,  344 

S 

Sadler,  C.  A.,  197 
Sadler,   M.   E.,   202 
Sanders,  Capt.,  31 
Satchwell,  J.  D.,  246,  247,   248 
Saunders,  Joseph   A.,   169 
Savage,   William,    272 
Schenk,  Wm.  H.,  97 
Settle,  Mrs.  H.  H.,  155 
Shelburne,  James,  42 
Shelburne,   Silas,   101 
Shishmanian,   G.  N.,   213 
Silverthorne,  P.  B.,  97 
Simmons,   Hon.    F.   M.,    164 
Simpson,  R.  D.,   100 
Simpson,  Gen.  Samuel,  87 
Skinner,  Henry  A.,  61,  64 
Slaughter,   Theophilus,   98 
Smith,   Elias,    52 


Smith,  Henry,  81,  97,  103,  110,  246, 
259,  260,  265,  266,  267,  269 

Smith,  John,  248 

Smith,  J.  B.,  27 

Smith,  Joseph,  267 

Smith,  O.  A.,  219 

Smith,  R.  W.,  168 

Smith,   R.    A.,    174 

Smith,  "Raccoon"  John,  25 

Smyth,  John,  77,  78 

Snow,  Dexter  A.,   117,   118 

Sojourner,    William,    79 

Southern-  Baptist  Review,  74 

Southern,  L.   A.,   119,   120 

Spain,  S.  IT.,  165 

Spencer,  I.  J.,  212 

Springer,  30 

Stancill,    Nathan,    97 

Standi!,  R.  W.,  120,  12.3,  Ulx  154 

Stanley,  James  A.,  271 

Stanley,  Mrs.  Martha,  155 

Starr,   W.  D.,  123 

Statesville,  34,  35,  37 

Staughton,  William,  70 

Stearns,    Shubael,    40,    79 

Stevens,  T.  M.,  134 

Stone,  Barton  Warren,  26,  28,  29,  30, 
31,  32,   35,   37,   38,   52,  204 

Stilley,  Mrs.  Mary,  130 

Streeter,  Benjamin,  111 

Styers,  J.  I.,  120 

Sugg,  Henry,  240,  242 

Summerlin,  L.,  142,  151 

Sumrell,  J.  F.,  166 

Sumrell,  S.  W.,  106,  192,  295,  308 

Sunday  Schools,  215,  216 

Swain,  David  Lowry,  60 

Swain,  P.  S.,  192 

Swanner,    Jesse,    273 

Synod  of  N.  C,  28 


Taylor,    Absalom,    130 

Taylor,   Green,  262 

Taylor,   J.    B.,    130 

Taylor,   R.,   272 

Taylor,  R,  J.,  160,  209 

Taylor,  Col.   S.   B.,   165,   166,   212 

Tench,  Jacob,   97,  256 

Tesh,  Miss  Elizabeth,  200 

Thomas,   Joseph,   26,   46,   47,   48,   49, 

50,  51,  52 
Thompson,  John,  32 
Tingle,  J.  R.,  13,  140,  168,  315,  344, 

345,   353 
Tison,  Noah,  82 
Topping,  Daniel,  247 
Tract    Societies,    60 
Transylvania  University,  31,  34 
Trans'ou,  J.  A.,  273 


372 


INDEX 


Tranters  Creek  Church,  276 

Trinity,   60 

Trotman,  Quentin  II.,  99,  100,  103 

Tubman,  Mrs.  Emily  IL,  67 

Tuckahoe   Church,   276 

TuU,  A.,  86 

Tull,  Mrs.  Winnie  E.,   152,   153 

Tunstall,   K.   B.,   173 

Tuten,  Miss  Frances,   219 

Tyler,  J.  Z.,   135 

Tyndall,  John  W.,  169 

Tyson,  George  T.,  317,  318 

Tyson,    Seth    H.,    97,    113,    216,   270 

U 

Union  Convention  Minutes,   104-106 
Union  Meeting,   65,   84 
University  of  North  Carolina,  29,  42 
Utlev,  Littlejohn,  91,   240 
Utley,  Jacob,  98,  266 


Van   Horn,   Peter   Peterson,   79 
Vass,  Thomas,  40 
Vause,   Jesse,   98,   240 
Yoliva,   F.  L.,   212 

W 

Waddel,  Moses,  35 

Wake  Forest  College,  60 

Waff,  Thomas,  61,  64,  99,  100,  103 

Walker,  J.   B.,  212 

Walker,   J.   J.,  202 

Walker,  W.  G.,  141,  211 

Walsh,  Dr.  John  Tomline,  61,  66,  85, 
95,  99,  111,  125,  127,  129,  130, 
139,  140,  142,  152,  153,  158,  177, 
179,  205,  209,  217,  224,  264,  270, 
326,  335 

Ward,  Fernando,  166,  192 

Ward,   Thomas,   113 

Ware,  C.  C,  13 

Watch  Tower,  129,  130,  135,  139, 
145,  151,  152,  171,  173,  189,  209, 
225 


Waters,  Mrs.  Asa,  66 

Waters,    J.    D.,    210 

Waters,  John  M.,  202 

Webb,  J.  B.,  100 

Weeks,  Benj.,  97 

Weeks,   Nathaniel,    97 

Welche's  Creek  Church,  255-257 

Wellons,  W.  B.,  261 

Wheat  Swamp  Church,  276,  277 

Wheeler,  Dr.   8.  J.,  99,   100,  101 

Whitefield,   George,   40 

Whitford,  D.,  82 

Whitney,   C.    F.,   202 

Whorton,  Robert,  267 

Wiley,    Calvin,    H.,    162 

Williams,  Senator  Henry  G.,  161 

Williams,   Mrs.   Jane,   150 

Williams,   Willis  E.,   134,   168,   172 

Willingham,  Mrs.  T.  L.,  155 

Willis,    Samuel,   270 

Wilkinson,  Jordan,  134 

Wilmington,   67 

Wilson,  Albert   IL,   130 

Wilson  Collegiate  Institute,  161,  162 

Wilson    Female    Seminary,    146 

Wilson's    Mill    Church,    i30 

Wilson,  Virgil  A.,  117,  154,  263,  273 

Wilson,   W.   H.,   166 

Windlev,   James,   249 

Windley,   Jesse,   249 

Windlev,  Samuel,  246,  248,  249 

Winfield,  Henry,  140,  310 

Winfield,   J.   L.,   107,   115,    136,   138, 

140,  142,  161,  166,  168,  191,  199, 

210,  218,  321 
Winfield,  John,  79 

Winfield,  John  E,,  217,  224,  249,  297 
Winfield,  W.  O.,  212,  352 
Wood,  Isaiah,  130 
Wood,  Mrs.  John  H.,   155 
Woolard,  Kenneth,  273 
Wooten,    S.    I.,   140 

Y 

Yeopim  Union  Meeting.  63 


DATE  DUE 

L^O    4    «Z 

net    it    i.  <J 

Ul 

DEMCO  38-297 


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